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Anti-intellectualism: America's fundamental flaw.

Valjean

Valjean

Veteran Member
Premium Member
An interesting article in Psychology Today, yesterday: Anti-intellectualism Is Killing America | Psychology Today

In a country where a sitting congressman told a crowd that evolution and the Big Bang are “lies straight from the pit of hell,” (link is external) where the chairman of a Senate environmental panel brought a snowball (link is external) into the chamber as evidence that climate change is a hoax, where almost one in three citizens can’t name the vice president (link is external), it is beyond dispute that critical thinking has been abandoned as a cultural value.
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Willamena

Willamena

Just me
Premium Member
Some will point out, correctly, that even educated people can still be racists, but this shouldn’t remove the spotlight from anti-intellectualism. Yes, even intelligent and educated individuals, often due to cultural and institutional influences, can sometimes carry racist biases. But critically thinking individuals recognize racism as wrong and undesirable, even if they aren’t yet able to eliminate every morsel of bias from their own psyches or from social institutions. An anti-intellectual society, however, will have large swaths of people who are motivated by fear, susceptible to tribalism and simplistic explanations, incapable of emotional maturity, and prone to violent solutions. Sound familiar?
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Yup. I blame Edward Bernays and Ivy Lee for providing the tools to program us.
 
Skwim

Skwim

Veteran Member
Seyorni said:
An interesting article in Psychology Today, yesterday: Anti-intellectualism Is Killing America | Psychology Today

In a country where a sitting congressman told a crowd that evolution and the Big Bang are “lies straight from the pit of hell,” (link is external) where the chairman of a Senate environmental panel brought a snowball (link is external) into the chamber as evidence that climate change is a hoax, where almost one in three citizens can’t name the vice president (link is external), it is beyond dispute that critical thinking has been abandoned as a cultural value.
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Not that I'm biased or anything, but isn't it interesting that Paul Broun of the "Evolution ,Big Bang are lies straight from the pit of hell" remark is a Georgia Republican. And
Jim Inhofe, who considers concern over climate change to be hysteria, is an Oklahoma Republican. Just sayin'
 
Quintessence

Quintessence

Consults with Trees
Staff member
Premium Member
I'm not impressed with the argument put forth by the editorial. The writer is conflating an absence of his or her particular moral values with an absence of critical thinking. The writer seems to believe that if we all thought critically, we would all agree with one another. That's naive rubbish. It is very, very possible to arrive at values that the writer would deem morally abominable through critical thinking and through the power of knowledge. As it stands, the article seems to be little more than rantings and expression of the writer's personal values, and provides nothing in the way of a persuasive argument regarding the writer's perceived flaws in America. Rather unfortunate, because there's a good point to be made, it just gets lost under rubbish rhetoric.
 
Shadow Wolf

Shadow Wolf

Certified People sTabber
Quintessence said:
I'm not impressed with the argument put forth by the editorial. The writer is conflating an absence of his or her particular moral values with an absence of critical thinking. The writer seems to believe that if we all thought critically, we would all agree with one another. That's naive rubbish. It is very, very possible to arrive at values that the writer would deem morally abominable through critical thinking and through the power of knowledge. As it stands, the article seems to be little more than rantings and expression of the writer's personal values, and provides nothing in the way of a persuasive argument regarding the writer's perceived flaws in America. Rather unfortunate, because there's a good point to be made, it just gets lost under rubbish rhetoric.
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I doubt the author thinks if we all were shard in our abilities to think critically we would all agree. But, never the less, the problems mentioned are indeed serious problems. Those people refuse to educate themselves about science, or anything that contradicts their religious beliefs, and people put them in office.
Actually, anti-intellectualism has been observed as an American trait for decades now.
Anti-intellectualism in American Life - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Anti-intellectualism in American Life is a book by Richard Hofstadter published in 1963 that won the 1964 Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction. In this book, Hofstadter set out to trace the social movements that altered the role of intellect in American society. In so doing, he explored questions regarding the purpose of education and whether the democratization of education altered that purpose and reshaped its form. In considering the historic tension between access to education and excellence in education, Hofstadter argued that both anti-intellectualism and utilitarianism were consequences, in part, of the democratization of knowledge. Moreover, he saw these themes as historically embedded in America's national fabric, an outcome of its colonial European and evangelical Protestant heritage. Anti-intellectualism and utilitarianism were functions of American cultural heritage, not necessarily of democracy.
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C

columbus

yawn <ignore> yawn
This is not a problem unique to the USA.
Has anybody seen the British Parliament in action? Heard today's news from Greece? Do you know what Egypt is governed by?
Tom
 
Revoltingest

Revoltingest

Pragmatic Libertarian
Premium Member
Bunyip said:
It always amazed me watching American movies set in high school, when people call you 'college boy', 'nerd', 'geek' etc they are insulting you for being intelligent. As if intelligence were a negative.
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Using the subjunctive case, eh, Poindexter?
You elitist pencil necked, pocket protector wearing geek!
 
Revoltingest

Revoltingest

Pragmatic Libertarian
Premium Member
Bunyip said:
Lol.

Why thankyou. :)

(As it happens, I look more like a lumberjack.)
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th
 
Shadow Wolf

Shadow Wolf

Certified People sTabber
Bunyip said:
It always amazed me watching American movies set in high school, when people call you 'college boy', 'nerd', 'geek' etc they are insulting you for being intelligent. As if intelligence were a negative.
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It's not just in the movies. School kids do sometimes reject and even pick on kids who are much smarter than their peers.
 
Revoltingest

Revoltingest

Pragmatic Libertarian
Premium Member
Bunyip said:
Yes, special school must have been nice. Apparently the short bus is very comfortable.
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Ah, I fondly remember the days of heading off to lunch.....each of us would hook our index finger in the belt loop of the student in front, lest we get separated & lost.
 
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