Allison Lie
Pronouns: She/her
Research Mentor(s): Terri Conley, Professor
Research Mentor School/College/Department: Psychology, College of Literature, Science, and the Arts
Presentation Date: Thursday, April 22, 2021
Session: Session 5 (3pm-3:50pm)
Breakout Room: Room 3
Presenter: 2
Abstract
Our study aims to investigate the trait of nescience–believing that the truth cannot be known. This is applicable in a variety of topics, such as politics and philosophy; an individual who is “high in nescience” would be unlikely to believe an absolute truth, like the existence of God. As information becomes increasingly available and, consequently, increasingly conflicting, it’s become apparent that people have begun to adopt a nescient standpoint more often, choosing to forgo making concrete judgements, even when necessary. In an effort to further explore the consequences of such behavior, the study we are constructing will measure the correlation between nescience and other traits, such as anti-intellectualism. We will be collecting results through a survey. As of right now, we have no defined hypothesis, although we began under the suspicion that widespread nescient traits may have negative implications. If our results are significant, we plan to use the information to make the public more aware of the topic of nescience, and the possible dangers of maintaining an uncertain stance too often.
Authors: Allison Lie
Research Method: Survey Research
