Overview

Does the lack of evidence mean that aliens don't exist? Why does an unproven mathematical hypothesis have profound consequences? Are humans capable of grasping the nature of divinity? Is it ethical to give a patient a placebo? Why do people persist in demonstrably false beliefs like flat earth theory? Should someone want to know when they will die? George G. Szpiro examines these questions and many others, offering an engaging and witty tour of what we can learn from ignorance. In a series of fast-paced chapters, he unravels problems ranging across science, mathematics, law, economics, politics, religion, psychology, and philosophy-some esoteric, others drawn from everyday life. Ignorance comes in many forms, Szpiro shows. Some questions are only temporarily unsolved; others are inherently unanswerable. Sometimes authorities keep answers from us, for good or ill. Often our assumptions and biases keep us from overcoming our ignorance, and occasionally we choose to remain ignorant-for surprisingly rational reasons. Ultimately, Szpiro argues, ignorance is not purely negative. It can motivate the pursuit of learning and wisdom-as long as we acknowledge it. Presenting sophisticated topics in an accessible way, this book shows how ignorance sheds light on the nature of knowledge.

Full Product Details

Author:   George G. Szpiro
Publisher:   Columbia University Press
Imprint:   Columbia University Press
ISBN:  

9780231221658

ISBN 10:   0231221657
Pages:   344
Publication Date:   07 April 2026
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand  
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.

Table of Contents

Preface Introduction Part I. Do Not Know 1. Do Aliens Visit Us? Flying Saucers and Other UFOs 2. Knowledge Under Seal: Les Plis Cachetés 3. A Mathematical Riddle: The Riemann Hypothesis 4. Restricted Access: Top Secret vs. Freedom of Information 5. Ignoramus et Ignorabimus: A Controversy in Germany 6. Will the Universe Expand Forever? Big Crunch, Big Bounce, Big Rip, or Big Chill 7. Ignorantia Legis Non Excusat: Presumed to Know 8. What Is Nothing? Horror vacui 9. Is Justified True Belief Knowledge? Gettier’s Problem 10. Hard but Easy: P vs. NP 11. Ignoring One’s Own Assessment: Ellsberg’s Paradox 12. It’s There but Can’t Be Seen: Dark Matter 13. Unskilled and Unaware of It: The Dunning-Kruger Effect 14. The Hard Problem and the Easy Problem: Understanding Consciousness 15. Uncharted Depths: Aqua Incognita Part II. Cannot Know 16. On Learned Ignorance: Cardinal Nicolas de Cusa 17. Where and How Fast? The Uncertainty Principle 18. Half Zeros, Half Ones: Random Numbers 19. Satisfice, Don’t Optimize: Bounded Rationality 20. Don’t Even Ask: Meno’s Paradox 21. Engaging in Risky Behavior: Moral Hazard 22. Nonlinearities Have Consequences: Chaos Theory 23. The Sixth Sense in a Post-Truth World: Alternative Facts and Fake News 24. How Long Is the Coast of Britain? Fractal Dimensions 25. Is the Solar System Stable? KAM Theory 26. Entering Infinite Loops: The Turing Halting Problem 27. True but Not Provable: Gödel’s Incompleteness Theorems 28. Storing Music, Photos, Video, and Text: Algorithmic Complexity 29. Too Far Away: The Light Cone 30. Is Your Red My Blue? Qualia Part III. Must Not Know 31. Preventing Last Rites: Professor Bernhardi 32. The Veil of Ignorance: John Rawls’s Theory of Justice 33. Show and (Don’t) Tell: Zero Knowledge Proofs 34. Limited Liability: The Corporate Veil 35. Move to Strike: Unringing the Bell 36. Hot Stock Tips: Insider Trading 37. Carnal Knowledge: Adam and Eve 38. Ignore Irrelevant Alternatives: The Theory of Games 39. Blind and Double Blind: The Placebo Effect 40. Polls Are Like Perfume: The Bandwagon Effect 41. Don’t Talk About Money: Compensation Secrecy 42. Cursed Be He: Spinoza’s Theses 43. Apply for a Patent or Keep a Secret? Intellectual Property 44. Don’t Throw Good Money After Bad: The Sunk Cost Fallacy 45. Kabbalah: Only Men Over Forty Part IV. Refuse to Know 46. Murder, Suicide, or the Gods’ Wrath? The Square Root of 2 47. “Eppur si muove!” The Trial of Galileo 48. Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend: A Mineral Consisting of Pure Carbon 49. The Silent Epidemic of Misunderstandings: Pluralistic Ignorance 50. “Non, je ne regrette rien”: Anticipated Regret 51. Ill-Informed but Harmless? Flat-Earthers 52. Don’t Even Talk About It: Critical Race Theory 53. Oldies Prefer Ignorance: Twenty-Somethings vs. Over-Eighties 54. Protecting the Second Amendment: The Dickey and Tiahart Amendments 55. Ignoring High-Risk Events: Disaster Insurance 56. Legislating Mathematical Truth: π = 3.2? 57. To Test or Not to Test? Prostate-Specific Antigens 58. Beware: Violence Ahead! Trigger Warning 59. Don’t Tell Me You Did It: Plausible Deniability 60. Experts, Shmexperts: Denial of Expertise, Dismissal of Elites Epilogue Notes Index

Reviews

Ignorance has become a hip topic in academia and beyond. George G. Szpiro's book masterfully weaves together different aspects of this trend by considering the flip side of knowledge from everyday perspectives, that is, the normalcy of nonknowledge, intentionally or not, in basically all areas of life. By so doing, Szpiro detects sixty ""normal"" instances of ignorance, no less. If you truly want to know about not knowing, then this is the book to read. -- Matthias Gross, author of <i>Ignorance and Surprise: Science, Society, and Ecological Design</i> Szpiro returns with a witty, thought-provoking exploration of life, history, and the meaning of our existence. Fun to read yet deeply educational, this lively journey through ideas reminds us why books still matter. -- William Eimicke, Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs Szpiro has opened a curiosity cabinet of queries and answers about what is knowable, what is somewhat knowable, and what is not. Ignorance is crafted superbly, with thoroughly engaging origin stories and vignettes of discovery that investigate belief, doubt, uncertainty, and suspicion—illuminating from beginning to end. -- Joseph Mazur, author of <i>The Clock Mirage: Our Myth of Measured Time</i>

Ignorance has become a hip topic in academia and beyond. George Szpiro’s new book masterfully weaves together different streams of this trend by delving into the flipside of knowledge from everyday perspectives, that is, the normalcy of nonknowledge, intentionally or not, in basically all areas of life. By so doing, Szpiro detects sixty “normal” instances of ignorance, no less. If you truly want to know about not knowing, then this is the book to read. -- Matthias Gross, author of <i>Ignorance and Surprise</i>

Ignorance has become a hip topic in academia and beyond. George Szpiro’s new book masterfully weaves together different streams of this trend by delving into the flipside of knowledge from everyday perspectives, that is, the normalcy of nonknowledge, intentionally or not, in basically all areas of life. By so doing, Szpiro detects sixty “normal” instances of ignorance, no less. If you truly want to know about not knowing, then this is the book to read. -- Matthias Gross, author of <i>Ignorance and Surprise</i> Szpiro returns with a witty, thought-provoking exploration of life, history, and the meaning of our existence. Fun to read yet deeply educational, this lively journey through ideas reminds us why books still matter. -- William Eimicke, Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs

Author Information

George G. Szpiro is an author and journalist who was a longtime correspondent for the Swiss daily Neue Zürcher Zeitung. His previous Columbia University Press books are Risk, Choice, and Uncertainty: Three Centuries of Economic Decision-Making (2020) and Perplexing Paradoxes: Unraveling Enigmas in the World Around Us (2024). Szpiro was on the faculty at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, and the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

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