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To avoid disputes over politics, I'm going to list a few made up examples below.

  • The people of Ambrosia live in a hot desert climate. A/C is a known technology, however the politicians of Ambrosia are in the pockets of the palm fronds lobby, so they choose to ignore or downplay A/C as a valid solution to cooling off in the summer.
  • The country of Elbonia is dominated by the fishing industry. They declare that imported fish is against the law because it's too risky to eat fish unless it's fresh. This is done in spite of the existence of refrigeration technology – the people of Elbonia choose to pretend it doesn't actually work to avoid competing with foreign fisheries.
  • Laurania is a culture that prides in their navigation skills. Every person must pass a complicated test of their navigation skills in order to graduate from high school because otherwise they might get lost. When GPS is developed, the people of Laurania choose to ignore or downplay its strengths and continue to administer the navigation test for many more decades.
  • The people of Ruritania believe that dishwashers are sentient and refuse to use them for washing dishes. However when the scientists of Kellauratania develop a dishwasher that's guaranteed to be sentience-free, the people of Ruritania choose to stick to their guns and not use dishwashers.

Is there a good expression for the above scenarios?

Laurel
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JonathanReez
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    Well, we have seen this kind of individual in places he should never have been...thickheadedness is a nice word. – Lambie Dec 28 '23 at 19:51

4 Answers4

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obstinate seems to apply. From M-W

stubbornly adhering to an opinion, purpose, or course in spite of reason, arguments, or persuasion

Barmar
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This is denialism, and the people practicing it are denialists.

denialism noun
The policy or stance of denying the existence or reality of something, esp. something which is supported by the majority of scientific or historical evidence. Now frequently with modifier, as in climate change denialism, Holocaust denialism, etc.
Source: Oxford English Dictionary (login required)

Tinfoil Hat
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Luddite(s)

A Luddite is a person who prefers to do things the way things have always been done, up to the point of a new and possibly better way of doing them has been discovered or invented.

As per Wikipedia, the original Luddites tried sabotage to try and prevent being replaced in the workforce by industrialization:

The Luddites were members of a 19th-century movement of English textile workers which opposed the use of certain types of cost-saving machinery, often by destroying the machines in clandestine raids. They protested against manufacturers who used machines in "a fraudulent and deceitful manner" to replace the skilled labour of workers and drive down wages by producing inferior goods.

Modern usage expands the original meaning to cover those averse to change: M.V.

"broadly : one who is opposed to especially technological change"

Here's a contrived example that occurred to me:

The majority of Australian Recivitarian economists and politicians are total Luddites when it comes to climate change, approving new coal mines being opened without regard to the ethics of doing so.

traktor
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There is an idiom that exactly fits:-

There's no need to reinvent the wheel

Collins
Merriam-Webster

Its been in common use since the mid 70's (ngram) and even has its own Wikipedia page.

7caifyi
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