Son Lisa K, Kornell Nate
Barnard College, Department of Psychology, 3009 Broadway, New York, NY 10027, United States.
Behav Processes. 2010 Feb;83(2):207-12. doi: 10.1016/j.beproc.2009.12.005. Epub 2009 Dec 16.
Although ignorance and uncertainty are usually unwelcome feelings, they have unintuitive advantages for both human and non-human animals, which we review here. We begin with the perils of too much information: expertise and knowledge can come with illusions (and delusions) of knowing. We then describe how withholding information can counteract these perils: providing people with less information enables them to judge more precisely what they know and do not know, which in turn enhances long-term memory. Data are presented from a new experiment that illustrates how knowing what we do not know can result in helpful choices and enhanced learning. We conclude by showing that ignorance can be a virtue, as long as it is recognized and rectified.
尽管无知和不确定性通常是不受欢迎的感受，但它们对人类和非人类动物都有着意想不到的好处，我们将在此进行探讨。我们首先从信息过多的危害说起：专业知识和知识可能伴随着知道的错觉（和妄想）。然后我们描述了隐瞒信息如何抵消这些危害：向人们提供较少的信息能使他们更准确地判断自己知道什么和不知道什么，进而增强长期记忆。我们展示了一项新实验的数据，该实验说明了知道自己不知道什么如何能带来有益的选择并促进学习。我们的结论是，只要无知得到认识和纠正，它就可以成为一种美德。
