“Ignorant” is defined as lacking knowledge or information. We’re ignorant about things throughout our lives. This ignorance can be alleviated once we’re exposed to pertinent facts or information and have the desire or willingness to learn. If we don’t have this mindset then we won’t learn and will instead hold onto our beliefs in the face of contrary information. This intent to not entertain data that goes against currently held beliefs can be called “Willed Ignorance” or “Motivated Ignorance“. As the old saying goes: “Don’t confuse me with facts, my mind is made up!”.
As with willed and motivated ignorance, Toxic Ignorance is the practice of choosing belief over knowledge, even when the facts are overwhelming. But Toxic Ignorance is the holding of such beliefs that can be detrimental to a person or society.
An example of Toxic Ignorance is insisting that Trump won the 2020 election, despite the complete lack of credible information supporting this belief and the abundance of data to the contrary. Some sixty-five lawsuits filed by Trump were rejected by the courts, many with reprimands to the lawyers for filing baseless court actions. Claims that the voting machines used were somehow rigged to favor Biden lost in court as well, with Fox News paying $787 million to settle a libel suit filed by the manufacturer of those voting machines and MyPillow CEO, Mike Lindell paying over $2 million in another lawsuit.
Some sixty-five lawsuits filed by Trump were rejected by the courts, many with reprimands to the lawyers for filing baseless court actions. Claims that the voting machines used were somehow rigged to favor Biden lost in court as well, with Fox News paying $787 million to settle a libel suit filed by the manufacturer of those voting machines and MyPillow CEO, Mike Lindell paying over $2 million in another lawsuit.
What makes the practice of clinging to disproven, unfounded beliefs such as this toxic, is its negative impact on the person or group of people involved, and on society as a whole. It can lead to isolation, division from others in the community – even violence, as shown at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. Rejecting all the available evidence that Trump lost the election, and instead choosing to believe Trump himself when he claimed the election was stolen, is an example of Toxic Ignorance.
In addition to the people at the Capitol, many in the Republican party have shown Toxic Ignorance when they dismissed the argument that this act was an insurrection, or even a riot, based on surveys taken in 2022. Instead they claimed the people there were peaceful and law-abiding and the real rioters were violent left-wing protestors. Some have even claimed the riot was planned and carried out by Antifa. This, obviously, ignores the facts supporting the convictions of hundreds of rioters by the FBI and numerous independent sources.
The eventual pardoning of these convicted rioters is toxic because it furthers the idea that breaking the law is acceptable. It also released violent people back into the population, even though they represented a minority of those convicted.
One of the most striking characteristics of Toxic Ignorance is the resisting of contrary information, even when it’s plentiful or obvious. Denialism, the irrational rejection of common truths, is often associated with Toxic Ignorance. Examples are the rejection of scientific facts like the effects of climate change or the behavior of vaccine deniers who insist that vaccines are dangerous despite decades of evidence to their safety and efficacy. These believers have even tried to make the case that vaccines cause autism, but the link between vaccination and autism has been shown to be false.
A new study shows that those displaying Toxic Ignorance are often aware that some statements and positions they hold are untrue, but still back these falsehoods when they’re associated with a person or cause they support. For many people the truth is too inconvenient so they don’t believe it. Former Vice President Al Gore’s book “An Inconvenient Truth” presented the looming climate change crisis as a fact many people didn’t want to believe.
Toxic Ignorance is perhaps best exemplified by MAGA believers. Trump regularly says so many things that are absurdly false and easily fact-checked that it’s hard to understand just how he keeps his following. That’s when you realize how strong Toxic Ignorance can be. This group’s dedication to Trump’s lies and exaggerations is almost comical. Unfortunately, it’s too serious to be funny.