Editing Ignorance (section)

== Consequences ==
Ignorance can have negative effects on individuals and societies, but can also benefit them by creating within them the desire to know more. For example, ignorance within science opens the opportunity to seek knowledge and make discoveries by asking new questions.<ref>[null Firestein], Stuart. ''Ignorance: How It Drives Science''. [[Oxford University Press]], 2012.</ref> Though this can only take place if the individual possesses a curious mind.{{citation needed|date=July 2021}}

Studies suggest that adults with an adequate education who perform enriching and challenging jobs are happier, and more in control of their environment.<ref>Schieman, Scott and Gabriele Plickert. "How Knowledge Is Power: Education and the Sense of Control." ''Social Forces'', vol. 87, no. 1, Sept. 2008, pp. 153-183.</ref> The confidence that adults obtain through the sense of control that education provides allows those adults to go for more leadership positions and seek for power throughout their lives.{{citation needed|date=July 2021}}

In 1984, author [[Thomas Pynchon]] observed: {{Blockquote|text=We are often unaware of the scope and structure of our ignorance. Ignorance is not just a blank space on a person's mental map. It has contours and coherence, and for all I know rules of operation as well. So as a corollary to writing about what we know, maybe we should add getting familiar with our ignorance, and the possibilities therein for ruining a good story.<ref name="Slow Learner">{{Cite news |last=Lehmann-Haupt, Christopher |date=March 29, 1984 |title=Books of The Times |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/03/29/books/books-of-the-times-085087.html |access-date=March 23, 2020}}</ref>}}

Another effect of ignorance is characterized by the [[Dunning–Kruger effect|Dunning-Kruger effect]], named after the scientists [[David Dunning]] and [[Justin Kruger]] in 1999. This theory centralizes the behavior of subjects regarding their intellectual capabilities and social behaviors. The limited information or competence of people who possess the Dunning-Kruger translates into a feeling of intellectual superiority.<ref>{{cite web |title=Dunning–Kruger effect |url=https://www.britannica.com/science/Dunning-Kruger-effect |website=www.britannica.com |access-date=7 December 2021 |language=en |archive-date=30 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211130065643/https://www.britannica.com/science/Dunning-Kruger-effect |url-status=live |last1=Duignan |first1=Brian |date=2023}}</ref>