Mattson argues that complex ignorance explains why simply providing the larger public with correct information about Islam is ineffective. She refers to her own experience of public speaking engagements after 9/11 in which many people would sit through her lectures on Islamic teachings and practices, only to respond at the end with incredulity. They were convinced they knew more about Islam than she did, even though her education in and experience of Islam far exceeded theirs. Mattson’s observations on complex ignorance of Islam shed some light on why responding to the Islamophobia industry by presenting straightforward facts and data will have a limited impact.

XREF: Connects to the backfire effect and research on motivated reasoning in political psychology.

Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Intro…, loc. 653