What is "agnotology"

n. The study of culturally-induced ignorance or doubt, particularly the publication of inaccurate or misleading scientific data.

Agnotology (formerly agnatology) is the study of culturally induced ignorance or doubt, particularly the publication of inaccurate or misleading scientific data. The neologism was coined by Robert N. Proctor, a Stanford University professor specializing in the history of science and technology. Its name derives from the Neoclassical Greek word , agnōsis, "not knowing" (confer Attic Greek ἄγνωτος "unknown"), and , -logia. More generally, the term also highlights the increasingly common condition where more knowledge of a subject leaves one more uncertain than before.

Some causes of culturally induced ignorance are media neglect, corporate or governmental secrecy and suppression, document destruction, and myriad forms of inherent or avoidable culturopolitical selectivity, inattention, and forgetfulness.

A prime example of the deliberate production of ignorance cited by Proctor is the tobacco industry's advertising campaign to manufacture doubt about the cancer and other health effects of tobacco use. Under the banner of science, the industry produced research about everything except tobacco hazards to exploit public uncertainty.

Agnotology also focuses on how and why diverse forms of knowledge do not "come to be", or are ignored or delayed. For example, knowledge about plate tectonics was censored and delayed for at least a decade because some evidence was classified military information related to undersea warfare.