This article examines the paradigms of the mass man (Ortega y Gasset) and the one-dimensional man (Marcuse) as analytical frameworks for understanding the social production of ignorance in contemporary networked societies.
Drawing on classical and contemporary sociological theory-particularly the work of Giddens, Castells, and recent contributions in agnotology-the paper argues that the same technological and institutional dynamics that enhance reflexivity, transparency, and access to information simultaneously foster opacity, disorientation, and large-scale ignorance.
The exponential growth of information, hyperconnectivity, and acceleration exceed individual cognitive capacities and fragment knowledge into competing networks, reshaping the relationship between elites and masses and challenging democratic deliberation.
Digital environments amplify unreflective mass behavior-visible in phenomena such as trending topics-while also enabling new forms of elite influence and social mobilization. The article concludes that the management of ignorance in networked societies depends less on technological solutions than on institutional regulation, cultural mediation, and the preservation of critical, reflexive public spheres.
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