Somehow, reading Ray Williams’ article The cult of ignorance in the United States: Anti-intellectualism and the “dumbing down” of America made me sadder than other pieces I’ve read on the subject.
For one thing, Williams’ article is from 2014. He cites Susan Jacoby, author of The Age of American Unreason from 2008, who said in an article in the Washington Post, “Dumbness… has been steadily defined downward for several decades. She specifically cites “a disjunction between Americans’ rising level of formal education and their shaky grasp of basic geography, science, and history.”
This is not a recent trend. Richard Hofstadter won a Pulitzer Prize in 1964 (!) for his book, Anti-Intellectualism In American Life.
We’re creating a world of dummies. Angry dummies who feel they have the right, the authority and the need not only to comment on everything, but to make sure their voice is heard above the rest, and to drag down any opposing views through personal attacks, loud repetition, and confrontation.
The article blames a variety of factors for this disturbing trend includes:
* Training people to get jobs rather than educating them
* Anti-science religiosity influencing education
* “The new elite are the angry social media posters, those who can shout loudest and more often, a clique of bullies and malcontents baying together like dogs cornering a fox”
Sure, there is vapidness in pop culture. “Fashion, entertainment, spectacle, voyeurism – we’re directed towards trivia, towards the inconsequential, towards unquestioning and blatant consumerism.”
The article addressed many problems but offers little in terms of solutions beyond that the trend “should be a cause for concern for leaders and the general population, one that needs to be addressed now.”
No doubt in my mind this is all true. But what does one DO about it? Je ne sais pas. And THAT’S what frightens me, not just for myself but for my child.
What can we DO?? A LOT, bro. You and I have raised intelligent kids! You and I counter stupidity when it’s presented; we don’t sit silent, we Speak Up even though we take shyte for it. The current cult of aggressive anti-intellectualism didn’t occur overnight, and it won’t be undone overnight. One step after the other, eyes on the prize, even though we’really weary and disgusted
I don’t know the answer, either, but I have one illustrative example of the need to push back against anti-intellectualism.
I’ve frequently shared fact-checking articles that look at something the current occupant of the White House has done or said. I cannot could the number of times that someone has told me that his supporters don’t care, so it’s stupid to share them. I always counter that facts matter, and documenting the truth matters, especially when there are people who actively deny both.
The thing is, I’ve been told that by folks on the Right and the Left alike, and both are essentially accepting that facts and knowable things don’t matter anymore. Now, I get that as a tactic, fact-checking is unlikely to win over any of that man’s more ardent supporters, since they accept whatever he says (all version simultaneously, apparently…) without question or critical thinking. But sticking up for facts and truth isn’t about political tactics, it’s about sticking up for truth over falsehoods.
If we don’t demand that people always stick to the facts, how can we ensure that eventually we won’t all love Big Brother?