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Recent decades have seen a dramatic increase in creative work on scientifc ignorance and uncertainty, which can be traced in part to a realization that ignorance and uncertainty cannot always be reduced or banished from science, and that they are social and cultural products rather than merely "part of the phenomenon. " The fact that ignorance is negotiable and yet fundamental to scientific work poses several important dilemmas and prospects. We may be participating in a shift from the traditional research strategies of reducing or banishing ignorance toward a deeper understanding of and greater capacity to cope with ignorance.

While ignorance has long troubled efforts to prevent, prepare for, or manage the aftermath of disasters, relatively little work has been done on the specific varieties of ignorance and the roles they play in disasters. The classical frameworks for decision-making under "uncertainty" are too restrictive, and many prescriptions for disaster management simply call for better communication or more data collection by way of reducing ignorance. Unfortunately, in connection with disasters, ignorance often is irreducible. This article presents a framework for understanding the various kinds of ignorance, and utilizes that framework to provide some insights and tools that may improve disaster preparedness, management, recovery, and learning.