Ignorance was our excuse

A truer measure of our ignorance.

I n December 2003, Giot et al. (1) published a systematic investigation of the protein interaction network—the interactome—of Drosophila melanogaster. Giot et al. produced a draft map of 7,048 proteins and 20,405 interactions, which they then refined to ‘‘a higher confidence map of 4,679 proteins and 4,780 interactions.’’ The magnitude of the undertaking led to the study being lauded as the ‘‘d...

When ignorance is no excuse: Different roles for intent across moral domains.

A key factor in legal and moral judgments is intent. Intent differentiates, for instance, murder from manslaughter. Is this true for all moral judgments? People deliver moral judgments of many kinds of actions, including harmful actions (e.g., assault) and purity violations (e.g., incest, consuming taboo substances). We show that intent is a key factor for moral judgments of harm, but less of a...

Solar Magnetism: The State of Our Knowledge and Ignorance

We review some longstanding scientific mysteries related to solar magnetism, with final attention to the mystery of the “turbulent diffusion” essential for the theoretical αω-dynamo that is believed to be the source of the magnetic fields of the Sun. Fundamental difficulties with the concept of turbulent diffusion of magnetic fields suggest that the solar dynamo problem needs to be reformulated...

Quantifying Our Ignorance: Stochastic Forecasts of Population and Public Budgets

Précis of Talking to Our Selves: Reflection, Ignorance, and Agency.

Does it make sense for people to hold one another responsible for what they do, as happens in countless social interactions every day? One of the most unsettling lessons from recent psychological research is that people are routinely mistaken about the origins of their behavior. Yet philosophical orthodoxy holds that the exercise of morally responsible agency typically requires accurate self-aw...