Vladimir_M comments on The Tragedy of the Social Epistemology Commons - Less Wrong
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You might be interested in Bryan Caplan's concept of "rational irrationality" -- it seems to be more or less what you're aiming for:
http://econfaculty.gmu.edu/bcaplan/ratirnew.doc
Abstract: Beliefs about politics and religion often have three puzzling properties: systematic bias, high certainty, and little informational basis. The theory of rational ignorance (Downs 1957) explains only the low level of information. The current paper presents a general model of “rational irrationality,” which explains all three stylized facts. According to the theory of rational irrationality, being irrational - in the sense of deviating from rational expectations - is a good like any other; the lower the private cost, the more agents buy. A peculiar feature of beliefs about politics, religion, etc. is that the private repercussions of error are virtually nonexistent, setting the private cost of irrationality at zero; it is therefore in these areas that irrational views are most apparent. The consumption of irrationality can be optimal, but it will usually not be when the private and the social cost of irrationality differ – for example, in elections.
See also Caplan's book for a popularized version of his research and it's application to politics.