Agnotology

January 6th, 2016 / By Deborah J. Merritt

Never heard of it? Agnotology is the science of ignorance–or, more precisely, the study of how individuals and organizations willfully spread confusion. This article offers a quick overview. One of the most effective ways to nurture ignorance, the article explains, is to persuade people that a fact is disputed.

This was the strategy that cigarette companies adopted to rebuff scientific studies showing tobacco’s killer effects. The companies couldn’t prove that the studies were wrong; instead, they focused on creating doubt. As long as cigarette manufacturers could maintain an air of controversy over tobacco’s effects, smokers would persuade themselves that smoking was not dangerous. Companies managed to maintain this air of “controversy” long after scientists agreed on the health risks of smoking.

Agnotologists warn that the internet facilitates the spread of ignorance. Disagreements arise readily online, and interested parties leverage those arguments to create an illusion of uncertainty. As long as experts appear to disagree over an issue, less informed individuals feel comfortable picking either side–even if an overwhelming majority of experts in the field endorses one side of the debate.

It’s a useful insight, especially for those of us who educate law students. We teach students that there are two or more sides to almost every question. That’s a key lesson for future lawyers to master, but perhaps we should impart a caveat learned from agnotology: Recognizing two sides can also be a way of obfuscating truth.