Clueless: to be without a clue. You’ve probably known someone that you’d describe as clueless. Of course, we’re all pretty clueless about some things: advanced calculus, for example, or what our neighbors had for dinner. But some people are clueless about things they really shouldn’t be clueless about.
Many times cluelessness is not as clueless as it appears. For instance, some people watch their finances like a hawk but a bank error in their favor slips by unnoticed. Others can be very astute regarding the cause of problems in a friend’s relationship yet be astonishingly unaware of similar issues in their own. Sometimes we take part in a form of group cluelessness such as when we agree to be uninformed, or misinformed, about an unjust or illegal activity by our government, corporations, or others.
Innocence, or lack of awareness, serves a function in our lives. If you’re clueless you are less likely to be held responsible for something. “What? Who, me?! Sorry, I had no idea! I was totally in the dark.” etc. Cluelessness can be a convenient way to not see what we don’t want to see, and not change things that we don’t want to change. So, the next time you encounter cluelessness ask yourself what the pay-off might be. You don’t want to remain clueless about cluelessness.