A talk delivered at the Society for Research into Higher Education, 5th May 2017 (with Dr Alison MacKenzie)

1. Ignorance and Epistemic Harm
Lessons for Digital and Information Literacy
The Society for Research into Higher Education , Digital University Network, 5th May 2017
Photo by ibrar bhatt https://www.flickr.com/photos/87248369@N03/32967559021/
Dr Ibrar Bhatt
Lecturer in Education
@ibrar_bhatt
i.bhatt@qub.ac.uk
Dr Alison MacKenzie
Lecturer in Education
a.mackenzie@qub.ac.uk

2. Some ideas about curation and information
management
• Digital content curation (Rosenbaum, 2011)
• Subjective and ideological (Snyder, 2015)
• Curation links information to knowledge and meaning-making (Bhatt, 2017)
• Crap detection (Rheingold, 2012)
• Curation is both human and computational, and a form of stewardship (Khan & Bhatt,
forthcoming)

3. Misinformation

4. Misinformation
“While the benefits of our hyper-connected communication systems are undisputed, they could
potentially enable the viral spread of information that is either intentionally or unintentionally
misleading or provocative. Imagine a real-world example of shouting “fire!” in a crowded theatre.
In a virtual equivalent, damage can be done by rapid spread of misinformation even when correct
information follows quickly.
Are there ways for generators and consumers of social media to develop an ethos of
responsibility and healthy scepticism to mitigate the risk of digital wildfires?”
(World Economic Forum Report 2013: p. 11)

5. The power of algorithms
The mediation of traditional stewardship (librarians, teachers, and even parents) has partially
given way to the work of computational curators
Social media executives hold the keys to the secrets to their algorithms tightly
They are increasingly powerful for in decision making for individuals, employers, and
governments (O’Neil 2016)
Their self-regulatory nature raises serious questions (Ibid)

6. Epistemic ignorance; epistemic harm?
Algorithms are ways of not knowing; or, rather, constructing and sustaining ignorance
Ignorance results from the configuration of interest
Knowing that we do not know/not caring to know – not linked to present interests
We do not know that we do not know – current interests/knowledge block such interests
Willed/willful ignorance – they do not know and don’t want to know
Types of ignorance as substantive epistemic practices

7. Discussion
Looking at the platforms and tools which you use, and your online habits, reflect
on the extent to which you are reliant on algorithms in your life.
Reflect on how your access to forms of knowledge are obstructed or constructed
through these algorithms.

8. Final points
Theories, frameworks, and research agendas surrounding digital and
information literacy should take into account the potential for epistemic harm.
The study of digital and information literacy is intrinsically connected to the
study of knowledge production, and therefore also to the production and
sustenance of ignorance.

9. References:
Bhatt, I. (2017) Assignments as controversies: digital literacy and writing in classroom practice, Routledge Research in
Literacy
Khan, S. & Bhatt, I. (forthcoming) Curation. In The International Encyclopedia of Media Literacy (R. Hobbes & P.
Mihailidis, Eds.).
O’Neil, C. (2016). Weapons of math destruction: How big data increases inequality and threatens democracy. New
York: Crown.
Rheingold, H. (2012). Net smart: How to thrive online. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Snyder, I. A. (2015). Discourses of 'curation' in digital times. In Discourse and digital practices: Doing discourse analysis
in the digital age (R. H. Jones, A. Chik, & C. A. Hafner, Eds.), pp. 209-225, Abingdon Oxon UK: Routledge.
World Economic Forum (2013) Digital wildfires in a hyperconnected world. Global Risks 2013: An Initiative of the Risk
Response Network. Geneva. from http://reports.weforum.org/global-risks-2013/risk-case-1/digital-wildfires-in-a-
hyperconnected-world/