A provocative analysis of the human tendency towards selective ignorance assesses the impact of the phenomenon on private and working lives as well as within governments and organizations to consider why people may prefer ignorance and have different comfort levels. By the author of The Naked Truth. 35,000 first printing. Margaret Heffernan argues that the biggest threats and dangers we face are the ones we dont see—not because theyre secret or invisible, but because were willfully blind. A distinguished businesswoman and writer, she examines the phenomenon and traces its imprint in our private and working lives, and within governments and organizations, and asks: What makes us prefer ignorance? What are we so afraid of? Why do some people see more than others? And how can we change? Covering everything from the Catholic Church, the SEC, and Nazi Germany to Bernard Madoffs investors, the embers of BPs refinery, the military in Afghanistan, and the dog-eat-dog world of subprime mortgage lenders, this provocative book demonstrates how failing to see—or admit to ourselves or our colleagues—the issues and problems in plain sight can ruin private lives and bring down corporations. Heffernan explains how willful blindness develops before exploring ways that institutions and individuals can combat it. In the tradition of Malcolm Gladwell and Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Margaret Heffernans Willful Blindness is a tour de force on human behavior that will open your eyes.
