agnotology (n.) / agnotological (adj.) : the study of culturally-induced ignorance or doubt, particularly the publication of inaccurate or misleading scientific data.

The leaders of corporations and other institutions, it turns out, are not always hungry for more information.

Investigations can be costly. They can assign blame. They can uncover things that might give ammunition for lawsuits.

They may delve deep into assumptions made when a system was put together, which may be outdated or expensive to change.

Some technology watchers, such as Robert Proctor, a Stanford professor who specializes in the history of science and technology, said there is increasing resistance to investigating, even as instances that warrant digging seem to be climbing.

"There is a lot more protectiveness than there used to be," said Proctor, who is shaping a new field, the study of ignorance, which he calls agnotology. "It is often safer not to know."

—"What you don't want to know can hurt," Grand Rapids Press, August 27, 2006