Ignorance Is bliss, on complex issues. So, outsource it to ...?

The less people know about important complex issues such as the economy, energy consumption and the environment, the more they want to avoid becoming well-informed, according to new research published by the American Psychological Association.
And the more urgent the issue, the more people want to remain unaware, according to a paper published online in APA's Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

This reports Science Daily (ht)

It is safe to assume then that people do not want to know about this finding either!

Even more worrisome is this:

people tend to respond by psychologically 'outsourcing' the issue to the government, which in turn causes them to trust and feel more dependent on the government. Ultimately, they avoid learning about the issue because that could shatter their faith in the government.

I tell students that I don't want them to blindly believe in anything, and that the single-most attribute I want to see in them is curiosity.  If they are not curious, then the purpose of education is lost, and with that will come crashing the whole idea of democracy.  To that effect, I remind them not to even trust what I say in the classroom, and that they ought to verify for themselves.  If the study's findings are largely true, then it is all the more important that I wage this battle, right?