Ignorance

Ignorance (from Latin ignorantia) is the state of being ignorant; the want of knowledge in general, or in relation to a particular subject; or the state of being uneducated or uninformed.

For many people ignorance is bliss. They prefer not knowing something because it is often more comfortable than knowing it. The opposite of this attitude is what Christian psychiatrist M. Scott Peck calls "dedication to reality at all costs".

Ignorance is typically divided into two types, blind (or innocent) ignorance, where a person can be forgiven for not knowing something, and conscious (or deliberate) ignorance, choosing to ignore facts, enlightenment, and education, in favor of blissful self-deception.