In public choice theory, “rational ignorance” refers to the choice not to inform oneself on some issue when the costs of doing so outweigh the benefits — in particular, when they outweigh the likelihood of one’s vote influencing the outcome of an election or one’s political pressure influencing a politician’s decisions. It also makes sense based on the finitude of time and energy: people are, naturally, more apt to devote more of those things to the affairs of their immediate family, job, friends, and neighbors, than to issues of public policy.

Unfortunately, when people choose to remain ignorant about something, it doesn’t necessarily follow that they fail to form opinions about it. If people have an understandable tendency to limit the effort they put into learning about social or public policy issues, they frequently also have a tendency to form strong opinions about national issues based on relatively little information. Hence the prevalence of strong negative — bigoted, in other words — opinions about LGBT people, People of Color, and immigrants.

I was reminded of this today, in direct message conversation with a friend. Concerning her boss, she said:

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