Why is anti-intellectualism so rampant?

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  • TheVirgoddess
    TheVirgoddess Posts: 4,535 Member
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    I know that chicks dig nerds.

    As long as they look rich in their leased beemers

    I'm not really appreciative of the implication here that women are seeking rich above all else. Jeesh. We just ran straight into misogyny with this.

    Both are really silly generalizations, and not worth any sort of outrage time.
  • TheVirgoddess
    TheVirgoddess Posts: 4,535 Member
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    The internet is a big part of it too. It's been lowering IQs of students and normal people since 1995 and has all but killed civility in America if not elsewhere too. It's made stars of the illiterate and stupid thanks to youtube and now it's spread to the tv shows with all these reality shows featuring people barely smart enough to tie their shoes.

    The reality show phenom is something I *really* don't get. I didn't even do The Real World back when it was "real".
  • EvgeniZyntx
    EvgeniZyntx Posts: 24,208 Member
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    The internet is a big part of it too. It's been lowering IQs of students and normal people since 1995 and has all but killed civility in America if not elsewhere too. It's made stars of the illiterate and stupid thanks to youtube and now it's spread to the tv shows with all these reality shows featuring people barely smart enough to tie their shoes.

    Luddite attitudes are rampant.
    In reality, IQ scores have been increasing since the thirties; this is known as the Flynn effect.

    And yes, you can google that.
  • TheVirgoddess
    TheVirgoddess Posts: 4,535 Member
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    In reality, IQ scores have been increasing since the thirties; this is known as the Flynn effect.

    And yes, you can google that.

    I hadn't heard of this. I don't put much stock into IQ, but it's still an interesting topic to read up on - thanks for sharing.
  • RaggedyPond
    RaggedyPond Posts: 1,487 Member
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    The government wants stupid people.
  • Forty6and2
    Forty6and2 Posts: 2,492 Member
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    anti-intellectualism-has-been-a-constant-thread-winding-its-awy-through-our-political-and-cultural-life1.jpg

    Clover, have I told you lately how much I love you?
  • Forty6and2
    Forty6and2 Posts: 2,492 Member
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    The government wants stupid people.

    I don't think it's just the government. Yes, quite a bit of ignorance comes from the under-funded schools (in the US, anyway) but even more comes from our general laziness and complacency. We're happy "knowing" what we "know" and don't want anything to challenge us. We have a tendency to overemphasize information that agrees with our point of view and trivialize information that does not. Honestly, I think people grow and evolve from being challenged but we're just too afraid of being challenged because we could be proven wrong.
  • RaggedyPond
    RaggedyPond Posts: 1,487 Member
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    The government wants stupid people.

    I don't think it's just the government. Yes, quite a bit of ignorance comes from the under-funded schools (in the US, anyway) but even more comes from our general laziness and complacency. We're happy "knowing" what we "know" and don't want anything to challenge us. We have a tendency to overemphasize information that agrees with our point of view and trivialize information that does not. Honestly, I think people grow and evolve from being challenged but we're just too afraid of being challenged because we could be proven wrong.

    Not meaning schools but entertainment for example. If you ever saw the movie Idiocracy I think that is where we are going.
  • Forty6and2
    Forty6and2 Posts: 2,492 Member
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    The government wants stupid people.

    I don't think it's just the government. Yes, quite a bit of ignorance comes from the under-funded schools (in the US, anyway) but even more comes from our general laziness and complacency. We're happy "knowing" what we "know" and don't want anything to challenge us. We have a tendency to overemphasize information that agrees with our point of view and trivialize information that does not. Honestly, I think people grow and evolve from being challenged but we're just too afraid of being challenged because we could be proven wrong.

    Not meaning schools but entertainment for example. If you ever saw the movie Idiocracy I think that is where we are going.

    Yeah, we also have a tendency to pay attention to things that don't really matter (ie, "Ooo, Kim and Kanye just got married!" instead of "I wonder how things are going in Crimea?") once again, because they make us comfortable. Kim and Kanye's wedding is something I could easily bring up on facebook without being called names and insulted, but anything too political or too important is taboo.

    I saw a bit of Idiocracy with my AP biology class in high school. One of the students in the class actually thought that watering plants with sports drinks was a good idea... :noway:
  • RaggedyPond
    RaggedyPond Posts: 1,487 Member
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    I saw a bit of Idiocracy with my AP biology class in high school. One of the students in the class actually thought that watering plants with sports drinks was a good idea... :noway:

    Lol. I see shows like Wipe-Out and all I can think is "Ow My Balls!"
  • TheNoLeafClover
    TheNoLeafClover Posts: 335 Member
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    anti-intellectualism-has-been-a-constant-thread-winding-its-awy-through-our-political-and-cultural-life1.jpg

    Clover, have I told you lately how much I love you?
    I don't think it's just the government. Yes, quite a bit of ignorance comes from the under-funded schools (in the US, anyway) but even more comes from our general laziness and complacency. We're happy "knowing" what we "know" and don't want anything to challenge us. We have a tendency to overemphasize information that agrees with our point of view and trivialize information that does not. Honestly, I think people grow and evolve from being challenged but we're just too afraid of being challenged because we could be proven wrong.

    The feeling is mutual, new friend.
  • CJisinShape
    CJisinShape Posts: 1,404 Member
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    My guess?

    Politically, it's easier to say, "No more taxes!, "Stay the Course" or "Hope and Change" than to divulge the nuances that make cadidates' opinions different from one another.

    Economically, it is difficult to have a content workforce if they are all striving for the top.

    Militarily, to have a successful mission, you need jarheads that will not question orders when time is of great importance.

    So, in other words, it's easier to lead people that lack knowledge, because knowledge is power and the powers that be don't want the added hassle.

    The problem with all this is when we need an intelligent workforce, like we do now.

    That's my opinion.
  • Forty6and2
    Forty6and2 Posts: 2,492 Member
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    I saw a bit of Idiocracy with my AP biology class in high school. One of the students in the class actually thought that watering plants with sports drinks was a good idea... :noway:

    Lol. I see shows like Wipe-Out and all I can think is "Ow My Balls!"

    Darwinism at work, my friend!
  • AglaeaC
    AglaeaC Posts: 1,974 Member
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    Yeah, we also have a tendency to pay attention to things that don't really matter (ie, "Ooo, Kim and Kanye just got married!" instead of "I wonder how things are going in Crimea?") once again, because they make us comfortable. Kim and Kanye's wedding is something I could easily bring up on facebook without being called names and insulted, but anything too political or too important is taboo.

    I saw a bit of Idiocracy with my AP biology class in high school. One of the students in the class actually thought that watering plants with sports drinks was a good idea... :noway:
    I don't find anything wrong with entertainment in its various forms, as long as it's balanced by a good dosis of realism and general awareness. When attention tips toward entertainment alone, it's no wonder people have no idea of what's going on in their societies or around the world.

    Another story is where focus is on in the news; I find it so depressing that when I have lots going on in my personal life, I simply can't keep up or it would drain me completely. That's totally on me, though, because I can be a bit too empathetic. It feels like there's so much bad stuff happening constantly that I can't take it all in at all times.
  • AglaeaC
    AglaeaC Posts: 1,974 Member
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    Economically, it is difficult to have a content workforce if they are all striving for the top.
    And they shouldn't. But what each and every employee should feel is value and respect for the work they do. People, no matter what their job is, should feel like an important part of the machinery.
    "If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals." - J.K.Rowling, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
  • TheVirgoddess
    TheVirgoddess Posts: 4,535 Member
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    Economically, it is difficult to have a content workforce if they are all striving for the top.
    And they shouldn't. But what each and every employee should feel is value and respect for the work they do. People, no matter what their job is, should feel like an important part of the machinery.
    "If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals." - J.K.Rowling, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

    I love you so hard for quote HP in this thread <3
  • CJisinShape
    CJisinShape Posts: 1,404 Member
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    Economically, it is difficult to have a content workforce if they are all striving for the top.
    And they shouldn't. But what each and every employee should feel is value and respect for the work they do. People, no matter what their job is, should feel like an important part of the machinery.
    "If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals." - J.K.Rowling, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

    I read a story about two brick layers. One complained that he was just a laborer toiling away doing an unchallenging job. The other felt great joy because he was a part of bringing a grand cathedral to serve generations. The attitudes of leadership certainly affect the workers, and good wages certainly help with that. We can "keep on waiting for the world to change,"
    Or we can "be the change that we want to see in the world."
  • AglaeaC
    AglaeaC Posts: 1,974 Member
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    Economically, it is difficult to have a content workforce if they are all striving for the top.
    And they shouldn't. But what each and every employee should feel is value and respect for the work they do. People, no matter what their job is, should feel like an important part of the machinery.
    "If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals." - J.K.Rowling, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

    I read a story about two brick layers. One complained that he was just a laborer toiling away doing an unchallenging job. The other felt great joy because he was a part of bringing a grand cathedral to serve generations. The attitudes of leadership certainly affect the workers, and good wages certainly help with that. We can "keep on waiting for the world to change,"
    Or we can "be the change that we want to see in the world."
    Thanks to TheVirgoddess earlier :) Quoting Gandhi isn't too shabby either and I agree, change starts from everyone. Bitterness in general is unbelievably unattractive and the two brick layers might have been working on the same cathedral for all we know.

    I thought some more about education and the second Master's I'm working on, which I mentioned earlier in the thread. Someone might think it ridiculous or something equally negative, but I don't have anything else. I'm divorced and we didn't get kids (thank god), so it's all that I have.
  • OperationSuperKAT
    OperationSuperKAT Posts: 886 Member
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    Honestly, I think that people in general are intimidated by anyone who is smarter. Human beings are always skeptical or afraid of something they don't understand. At least, this has been my experience. I grew up in a really strange subset of society, in which as if it wasn't bad enough that I was a girl, I was (still am) also very intelligent and opinionated. These people literally could not understand why I was more interested in learning and satisfying my curiosity than growing up to find a husband and have a family, so they hated me. They did their best to make me feel like an outsider and a bad person. Fortunately, I didn't listen, but it seems that society as a whole has no idea what to do with smart people, so they do their best to hold them back and make them come down to everyone else's level.
  • RaggedyPond
    RaggedyPond Posts: 1,487 Member
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    Economically, it is difficult to have a content workforce if they are all striving for the top.
    And they shouldn't. But what each and every employee should feel is value and respect for the work they do. People, no matter what their job is, should feel like an important part of the machinery.
    "If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals." - J.K.Rowling, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

    This is why I love Japan. Even if they are a cashier or a janitor they do that job the best they can and always have a smile.

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