STREET DOGS: Why people ignore information
We live in an unprecedented ‘age of information’ but make little use of it
We live in an unprecedented "age of information" but use little of it. Dieters prefer to ignore the calories in their dessert, people at high risk for disease avoid screenings and people choose the news source that aligns with their political ideology. Writing in the Journal of Economic Literature, researchers Russell Golman, David Hagmann and George Loewenstein show that while a simple failure to obtain information is the most clear-cut case of "information avoidance", people can choose a wide range of other information-avoidance strategies. They are adept at selectively directing their attention to information that affirms what they believe or that reflects favourably upon them, and at forgetting information they wish were not true. "The standard account of information in economics is that people should seek out information that will aid in decision making, should never actively avoid information and should dispassionately update their views when they encounter new valid informati...
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