Some of the most insightful work on information seeking emphasizes “strategic self-ignorance,” understood as “the use of ignorance as an excuse to engage excessively in pleasurable activities that may be harmful to one’s future self.” The idea here is that if people are present-biased, they might avoid information that would ____________________________________ ― perhaps because it would produce guilt or shame, perhaps because it would suggest an aggregate trade-off that would counsel against engaging in such activities. St. Augustine famously said, “God give me chastity ― tomorrow.” Present-biased agents think: “Please let me know the risks ― tomorrow.” Whenever people are thinking about engaging in an activity with short-term benefits but long-term costs, they might prefer to delay receipt of important information. The same point might hold about information that could make people sad or mad: “Please tell me what I need to know ― tomorrow.”
* aggregate: 합계의 ** chastity: 정결