How to take non-knowledge seriously, or "the unexpected virtue of ignorance"

Public Understanding of Science
Kristian H Nielsen, Mads P Sørensen

Abstract

This commentary argues that we need to take ignorance and non-knowledge seriously in the fields of science communication and public understanding of science. As much as we want ignorance to disappear, it seems that it is here to stay-in the sciences and in the rest of society. Drawing on the vast but scattered literature on ignorance and non-knowledge, we suggest that paying closer attention to these phenomena could be beneficial for science communicators. Despite the fact that ignorance and non-knowledge, just like knowledge, today are highly politicized fields, they may also open up for new lines of inquiry and may be key to more pluralistic and equal democratic deliberation about science and technology.

References

Apr 17, 1987·Science·P Slovic
Mar 15, 2002·Nature·Holger Hoffmann-Riem, Brian Wynne
Aug 15, 2013·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Baruch Fischhoff, Dietram A Scheufele
Sep 17, 2014·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Baruch Fischhoff, Dietram A Scheufele

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Citations

Nov 4, 2020·Medicine, Health Care, and Philosophy·Jan Helge SolbakkRose Bernabe

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