How I use strategic ignorance

When writing for a large audience, as I have, you're constantly under the eyes of many people who try to interact with you. Some of them can bring value to your work, but most of them do not.

I use a simple form of “strategic ignorance” for my online life: I stop giving attention to people who fail this three-point test:

1. I don’t learn anything from them

2. I don’t feel lighter, calmer, or more optimistic after interacting with them

3. If you told me I’d never see or talk to them again in 6 months, I wouldn’t care

If someone fails all three, they don’t get my time, replies, or attention.

By doing this, I try to protect my finite resource: focus.

Strategic ignorance is not pretending the world doesn’t exist.

It is choosing not to know, not to engage, and not to react to things and people that don’t move your life forward.

Practically, this looks like:

- Muting or unfollowing accounts that only trigger outrage or engage for their own reach

- Ignoring DMs that pull you selling stories

- Stepping out of conversations where nobody is listening

The internet already fragments your attention for free.

You don’t need volunteers helping it.

You can’t control who speaks.

You can fully control who you hear.

What would change in your week if you applied this 6-month test to your online relationships?