The art of ignorance is the ability to remain uninformed in the face of plentiful or overwhelming evidence. It differs from denial in that denial may be an unconsciously triggered defense mechanism; for example, a 14-year-old boy is caught looking at his 13-year-old sister’s diary but swears he is not: if he admits looking at her diary, he might suffer dire consequences. On the other hand, if the boy reads his sister’s diary in which she has written several times that she wants to have a baby with her 19-year-old boyfriend but he consciously ignores the improper and possibly criminal nature of his sister’s desire and relationship with the older man, the brother is behaving in an oblivious, artfully ignorant way. That is, the boy will likely never be held responsible for his sister’s welfare or behavior or for any possible statutory rape or illegal sex act perpetrated by the boyfriend. . . A janitor who cleans up a chop shop may be ignorant of any criminal activity that goes on there and thus stay out of trouble: artful ignorance.
