Simple. Just simple people. Don't confuse, condemn, or try to show them the error of their ways, for there is no error. Just ask them. There seems to be a perverse pride in their belief that it is not important to be educated. Forget even educated, how about even aware. "Pardon me whilst I bury my head in that lovely sand mound right over there."
There is a new book on my list, The Age of American Unreason by Susan Jacoby. In it she examines this anti-intellectualism:
"Americans are in serious intellectual trouble -- in danger of losing their hard-won cultural capital to a virulent mixture of anti-intellectualism, anti-rationalism and low expectations."
"According to a 2006 survey by National Geographic-Roper, nearly half of Americans between ages 18 and 24 do not think it necessary to know the location of other countries in which important news is being made. More than a third consider it "not at all important" to know a foreign language, and only 14 percent consider it "very important."
"That leads us to the third and final factor behind the new American dumbness: not lack of knowledge per se but arrogance about that lack of knowledge."
"The problem is not just the things we do not know (consider the one in five American adults who, according to the National Science Foundation, thinks the sun revolves around the Earth); it's the alarming number of Americans who have smugly concluded that they do not need to know such things in the first place."
"Call this anti-rationalism -- a syndrome that is particularly dangerous to our public institutions and discourse. Not knowing a foreign language or the location of an important country is a manifestation of ignorance; denying that such knowledge matters is pure anti-rationalism."
"Far too many of those who think they're knowledgeable on some very important subjects have in fact been educated into even greater ignorance, swallowing a series of falsehoods and half-truths that make them think they know what they're talking about when they don't..." ~Ed Brayton
My! You and Amy are both deep today! :)
ReplyDeleteI would be interested to know what the previous results were for the same survey taken in 2006 (if they had them). To see how much things have changed for the worst.
So this is happening in more places than Bradford County?
ReplyDeleteFantastic.
I think that there are a few aspects of culture that may contribute to this phenomenon.
ReplyDeleteThe rationalism of the past may seem more significant that that which we see today, but this may not have even been the reality. The vast unrepresented majority of that era may have been as uneducated or uninterested as many people today. Think of it as the Cleopatra syndrome - when people claim to be reincarnated they rarely have been simple peasants, even though that would have been the most likely option given the proportion of Cleos to servants! The rationalists wrote their thoughts down for posterity, so we can reflect of ths heritage, but there are few diaries in print from the 1700s that deal with the mundane.
That being said, I also wonder if some of this apathy today is due to the "lives of quiet desperation" facet of our culture, in particular. So many families are in shards, and there just isn't the kind of social support that once existed. Without this safety net, I think that so many people with whom I come in contact are just trying to get by, and the thought of expanding their horizons seems like too much effort when they can barely make it to the couch and television set in the evening. (To say nothing of the incredible distortions, scare tactics, and untruths they see there when they do try to educate themselves!)
I think this may also be acerbated by the pace at which most people feel compelled to live. There seems to be a sense that you are not doing all that you should be as a parent if you don't spend three hours a day after school toting your kids hither and yon to all kinds of activities - few of which revolve around the family unit - and instead serve to separate us into distinct individuals who happen to live together. I think that this disintigration leaves little rom or time for conversation, and I think that is where the roots of rational thought are developed.
I also wonder if the idea of intellectualism as an ideal to be pursued no longer holds the value it once had. My grandfather, for example, was educated only to the 8th grade and worked fairly menial jobs all of his life, and yet he had an enormous collection of sets of books that he studied about world cultures and the like. It was something that he felt he needed to be complete, even living here in the hidey hills of northeast Pennsylvania.
OMG! I tried to "scan" over this blog and I need to revisit it later on, with a glass of wine, while the kids are asleep!
ReplyDeleteHey Teresa. Totally unrelated, but do you do the gluten free diet? If you do, may I ask why you are doing it and what the effects have been?
ReplyDelete(Guess who's Wednesday night class is cancelled this week!)
ReplyDeleteAmy-
ReplyDeleteYes, it is difficult to know if this is really an increase or not, however I think that it is increasingly important with a swelling population and globalization.
I agree with the pace and difficulties that exist today that were not necessarily present in earlier times. How that affects pursuing "luxuries" such as knowing world cultures or current events is detrimental.
I think the larger point is the arrogance of ignorance though. It is one thing to be ignorant and not know it, to be content and not know that there are other things that are important to know. It is quite another to smugly resist intellectualism. To believe that there is no good reason to learn new things, to be aware of how the world works, differing cultures, leaderships, atrocities, languages, etc... This is the anti-rationalism she is talking about.
The virulent ignorance comes from those of us who think we know what we are talking about and don't. It differs from the mundane in that is more damaging. Those who possess a virulent strain of ignorance spread their misinformed opinions as the gospel and make it more difficult for those who are seeking truth.
Kat-
ReplyDeleteJ has a type of celiac, he can't have any gluten at all. I know lots of other people follow it for other reasons, but we try to stick to it for him. (Most of the time) I get pretty stuck with recipes sometimes, so I found those blogs while looking for an easter cake recipe.
Are you thinking of going gluten-free?