When is it rational to be ignorant?
In general less affluent India, particularly the rural areas, is steeped in ignorance; a majority will not know the name of the Indian Finance Minister and not feel uncomfortable at all when cornered about their ignorance. Is economic development the way out of this morass of ignorance? Apparently yes, but my empirical observations lead to other conclusions. In my stay in the US as a graduate student I discovered the same ignorance about politics and government as I had seen among common people in India.
There actually exists such a term as ‘rational ignorance’; it implies that you are better off spending more time on your own personal or business affairs, such as taking your wife out for dinner on a relaxed weekend or trying to sell that extra bar of soap outside office hours as a salesman, than sitting in front of the television switching from one business channel to the other trying to understand why the stock market continues to plummet while the economy continues to boom.
It is only then that I understand that the saying, “ignorance is bliss,” actually means “ignorance might lead to bliss.” Such understanding is deepened when I see the heightening awareness of my countrymen about caste issues holding up development through strikes. It is in these moments that I long for rational ignorance in others. And am I glad that my US experience indicates that development will not lead people to become less ignorant over time!
Siddhartha Mitra, Director (Research), CUTS (June 13, 2008)
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