Agnotology

Does a young lion cry out from its den if it has caught nothing? Does a bird fall into a snare on the earth when there is no trap for it? – Amos 3:4b-5a (NRSV) 

One of the mysteries of the age is how so many people remain so committed to ignorance, to the willful misinterpretation of signs, causes, and data. Climate change denial, flat-eartherism, anti-vaxxism: not one of these can stand up to an honest encounter with science or fact. 

And yet. 

People who study intentionally-created ignorance think it starts with some hard-wiring in our brains. Most prey species have side-set eyes, letting them take in tons of unfocused information from a huge radius. We, on the other hand, have the front-set eyes of the predator, designed for laser-focus on details. We have brains to match, phenomenally adept at filtering out—remaining ignorant of—data. No need to process the twittering passage of a sparrow off to the right; if I look away from that deer right in front of me, I might go hungry. 

That evolutionary history is easily exploited now. By companies looking to misdirect (“Cigarettes aren’t the problem, genes are!”); by social media algorithms that feed you only what you already agree with (but no actual science, mind you); by politicians looking to control instead of serve; by Tiktokers who yell “facts” at lightning speed. And then our brains get tricked into filtering out other, essential data. 

Part of the solution is to learn to go wide: in our reading, in our research, in our learning, in our travel, in our acquaintance. Most of the solution is to decide what our core commitments are, and then use what evolution gave us to remain laser-focused on them. 

Prayer
Grant that I may stay laser-focused first on Love, which is to say on you, and then on truth. Amen.

About the Author
Quinn G. Caldwell is Chaplain of the Protestant Cooperative Ministry at Cornell University. His most recent book is a series of daily reflections for Advent and Christmas called All I Really Want: Readings for a Modern Christmas. Learn more about it and find him on Facebook at Quinn G. Caldwell.