Demographic diversity might often be present in a group without group members noticing it. What are the epistemic effects if they do? Several philosophers and social scientists have recently argued that when individuals detect demographic diversity in their group, this can result in epistemic benefits even if that diversity doesn’t involve cognitive differences. Here I critically discuss research advocating this proposal, introduce a distinction between two types of detection of demographic diversity, and apply this distinction to the theorizing on diversity in science. Focusing on ‘invisible’ diversity (i.e., differences in, e.g., LGBTQ+, religious, or political orientation), I argue that in one common kind of group in science, if group members have full insight into their group’s diversity, this is likely to create epistemic costs. These costs can be avoided and epistemic benefits gained if group members only partly detect their group’s diversity. There is thus an epistemic reason for context-dependent limitations on scientists’ insight into the diversity of their group.

人口多样性可能经常存在于一个群体中，而群体成员却没有注意到。如果这样做的话，会产生什么认知效应？一些哲学家和社会科学家最近认为，当个体发现群体中的人口多样性时，即使这种多样性不涉及认知差异，也可能会带来认知上的好处。在这里，我批判性地讨论了倡导这一提议的研究，介绍了人口多样性检测的两种类型之间的区别，并将这种区别应用于科学多样性的理论化。着眼于“隐形”多样性（即 LGBTQ+、宗教或政治取向等方面的差异），我认为在科学界的一种常见群体中，如果群体成员充分了解其群体的多样性，这很可能创造认知成本。如果团体成员仅部分地发现其团体的多样性，则可以避免这些成本并获得认知收益。因此，科学家对其群体多样性的洞察力受到环境相关限制，这是有认知原因的。