Anti Intellectualism in American Life

brightmoon

brightmoon

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Help me understand this, legitimately understand this.

Here is a speech President Obama gave to the Rutgers University graduating class

[video=youtube;AbuTGX0Mx_8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbuTGX0Mx_8[/video]

Part of his speech "Ignorance is not a virtue"

The response from Trump (via Twitter of course)

"In politics, and in life, ignorance is not a virtue." This is a primary reason that President Obama is the worst president in U.S. history!

Help me try to make sense of this. How can anyone defend ignorance as positive or as a virtue?

What has happened to America and is it truly a place where intellectual endevous are frowned upon??
 
He's just prepping the national psyche for the day when the US will be exporting cheap goods to China.

That role reversal will deliver all the unskilled employment a socialist population could ever desire.
 
Anti-intellectualism is just another name for the liberal movement in America.
 
Interesting article on the topic: http://www.inquisitr.com/2917549/the-rise-of-anti-intellectualism-and-its-repercussions-for-society/

There is also the recent case where Guido Menzio was mistaken for a possible terrorist on a flight because the woman next to him thought he was an Arab and didn't recognize math. He was working on a differential equation. Guido Menzio is part of our country's 'brain bank' and fairly well known for his work as a mathematician and in economics. His heritage is irrelevant, but he is Italian. The bigger problem here is that the woman didn't recognize math. Even if it was math far above her capabilities, she should have recognized what it was! (For example: Before you took calculus you probably saw calculus and knew it was math.)
Also, people who should be celebrated in this country, such as our 'brain bank' are unknown, while TV celebrities are treated like demigods.

OK, the woman who reported Menzio was worried about terrorism. There is a difference between being cautious, and being so paranoid (caused by media sensationalism) that a brilliant and well-respected man who "doesn't look white" is treated like a criminal because math is ‘scary’. ((headesk))
 
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Eventhorizon said:
Anti-intellectualism is just another name for the liberal movement in America.
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From an outsider's point of you it appears that the opposite is true. Anti-intellectualism seems tied in to right wing ideologies.
 
brightmoon said:
The response from Trump (via Twitter of course)

"In politics, and in life, ignorance is not a virtue." This is a primary reason that President Obama is the worst president in U.S. history!

Help me try to make sense of this. How can anyone defend ignorance as positive or as a virtue?
Click to expand...

Trump isn't defending ignorance, he's just dissing Obama, calling him ignorant.

Everything Trump says is very explicit, so his dumb audience understands him. Because Americans are actually largely pretty dumb. He knows how to capitalize on this. It's simple marketing, just listen to your audience and give them what they want. He throws around insults and his numbers go up. Drama gets ratings among the easily swayed and simple minded.

Supporters of Trump who aren't complete dumbshits see what he is doing, interpret it as being cleverly subversive and give him intelligence points for it when really, it's pretty basic.

He is applying the exact same principles of reality television to his campaign. If ratings decline, say some crazy shit like Warran is Pocahontas or our current president is so ignorant he's rekt the country.
 
Trump was clearly responding to Obama's passive-aggressive jibe at his intellect; Obama fired the first shot, so he deserves to respond. I'm not sure how you would assume he hates intellectualism. He's written more books than you have.
 
La Sagna said:
From an outsider's point of you it appears that the opposite is true. Anti-intellectualism seems tied in to right wing ideologies.
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I can assure you its absolutely more left wing.
 
I'll critique both sides from an outsiders POV:

Left wing ideologies have elements of anti-intellectualism by means of a pseudo, pigeon holed and 'pick what appeals, leave what doesn't' kind of intellectualism that undermines true intellectualism, often subjecting it to emotionalism. It is semi-ignorance feigned as intellectualism. I.e. Just look at all this microagression regulation nonsense at universities/colleges.

Right wing ideologies have elements of anti-intellectualism by means of a bull dog ignorance that barks aimlessly, and a half-way-logic that can be lazy yet ironically confident, denigrating intellectualism by reducing it to a commodity or as a threat to 'what is'. I.e. Speaking about someone who is literally incapable of getting a job (i.e. a hypothetical disabled person) and who never did anything to live on the streets as a homeless person: "That man is a lazy disgrace, he shouldn't get hand outs, but get a job like everyone else!"

Both sides have anti-intellectual traits. Both sides need reformation. Both sides hail themselves as saviours by pointing the finger at the other side. Both sides aren't very appealing.
 
If Obama didn't want to give Trump any recognition or more publicity he wouldn't have said anything about him in the speech. It's the equivalent of two sock puppets talking to each other.

rovlta9.jpg


Maximus talking to the audience watching the movie.
 
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'm not sure how you would assume he hates intellectualism. He's written more books than you have.
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Well thats what Trump said.
[MENTION=13855]JJJA[/MENTION] ad hominem seems to be a pattern with you, as it is with Trump. You don't know me, you have no idea how many books I've written. Ad Hominem the mark of the lazy and the mark of the ill informed. If you are that gullible to actually think he wrote those books I have started up my own university called Brightmoon U (patterned after Trump U) which you can join for the special introductory rate of $15,000. I can promise you it will be fabulous, the best, the absolute best...
 
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Night Owl said:
I'll critique both sides from an outsiders POV:

Left wing ideologies have elements of anti-intellectualism by means of a pseudo, pigeon holed and 'pick what appeals, leave what doesn't' kind of intellectualism that undermines true intellectualism, often subjecting it to emotionalism. It is semi-ignorance feigned as intellectualism. I.e. Just look at all this microagression regulation nonsense at universities/colleges.

Right wing ideologies have elements of anti-intellectualism by means of a bull dog ignorance that barks aimlessly, and a half-way-logic that can be lazy yet ironically confident, denigrating intellectualism by reducing it to a commodity or as a threat to 'what is'. I.e. Speaking about someone who is literally incapable of getting a job (i.e. a hypothetical disabled person) and who never did anything to live on the streets as a homeless person: "That man is a lazy disgrace, he shouldn't get hand outs, but get a job like everyone else!"

Both sides have anti-intellectual traits. Both sides need reformation. Both sides hail themselves as saviours by pointing the finger at the other side. Both sides aren't very appealing.
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What astounds me is that most people don't see this. People are so artificially polarized by this election that they forget that the truth usually resides closer to the middle... but I suppose a bit of irrational chaos is integral if you want to force a reform.
 
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atree said:
What astounds me is that most people don't see this. People are so artificially polarized by this election that they forget that the truth usually resides closer to the middle... but I suppose a bit of irrational chaos is integral if you want to force a reform.
Click to expand...

What ever happened to the mean between two extremes? Balance, moderation, compromise? Does everything have to be a binary polarity today rather than a spectrum filled with nuance and many shades of gray? I think one symptom of American anti-intellectualism is a lack of critical thinking. People are so easily manipulated. It's like either red state or blue state rather than just being an American who wants what is best for everyone. It really seems like a divide and conquer strategy. I know it is another cliché, but what happened to united we stand divided we fall? There is very little sense of shared identity or community any more. This entire election (I know this isn't a political thread, but the first post did mention Barry O and the Donald) seems to epitomize the anti-intellectual trend in this country. It's like watching fake wrestling. The audience is easily entertained and clueless. More than ever, being young and ignorant is valued as a bizarre virtue. Everyone wants to be like a teen ager (young, dumb, and full of cum). It benefits politicians, Madison Avenue, the entertainment industry, the fast food industry, as well as many others (Beer!). Most celebrities are not well educated, intellectual, deep, or interesting. But they are worshipped nonetheless. A significant proportion of our population is devolving as depicted in the movie Ideocracy. It is simultaneously amusing and terrifying. And the most ignorant among us are most likely having the most children meaning future generations will be even stupider. Now I am getting depressed. Our priorities and education system really need to improve lest we want to hand over our future to people who will be less than the best and the brightest who sadly guide us today. If Trump, who is very inarticulate and simplistic in his thinking becomes president by appealing to the lowest common denominator, anti-intellectualism will have won in the US. And if that happens, we all lose.
 
Let me explain "anti intellectualism" in America for you, super quick and easy.

The "ruling elite" have slowly and meticulously (very strategically) devised, over many decades, a system that breeds subordination and sub-servitude. There are many, many, MANY things in every day life meant to keep the American citizen from questioning, thinking by herself, or otherwise using his or her intuition to see beyond the matrix that is the fragile little bubble we live within.

The dumber you are, the more money they make on your interest in consumer goods. They own what you see, what you hear and what you read. They own the news, and every bit of your life on the grid consists of the exchange of money for goods. CAPITALISM promotes greed, and greed promotes the dumbing down of the masses in order for those in power to carefully and craftily execute their will to gain more and more wealth by taking full advantage of your ignorance.

God forbid if humanity awoke in numbers staggering enough that they may actually question authority, and, not if but WHEN they do, the powers that be will be taken down one way or another. Thankfully, it has begun. Just know that what you buy is more of a vote than any vote you'll ever cast in a ballot.
 
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Side note:

Neither side, left, right, up or down matters. Politicians are mere puppets for corporate interest and exist only to keep mediocre minds in the dark. Follow the money trail.
 
brightmoon said:
Well thats what Trump said.
@JJJA ad hominem seems to be a pattern with you, as it is with Trump. You don't know me, you have no idea how many books I've written. Ad Hominem the mark of the lazy and the mark of the ill informed. If you are that gullible to actually think he wrote those books I have started up my own university called Brightmoon U (patterned after Trump U) which you can join for the special introductory rate of $15,000. I can promise you it will be fabulous, the best, the absolute best...
Click to expand...

Sounds tremendous.
 
Eventhorizon said:
Anti-intellectualism is just another name for the liberal movement in America.
Click to expand...

Yeah...the liberals with their science...instead let's deny climate change, promote creationism, yep...the earth is only 5000 years old...and the Grand Canyon was carved by the flood of Noah.
It works both ways man.
 
atree said:
What astounds me is that most people don't see this. People are so artificially polarized by this election that they forget that the truth usually resides closer to the middle... but I suppose a bit of irrational chaos is integral if you want to force a reform.
Click to expand...

*narrows eyes* Your lack of divisiveness makes you sound like some kind of terrorist. I don't trust you, and I bet people like you are somehow responsible for all the things I don't like.

sneetch.jpg
 
Sloe Djinn said:
*narrows eyes* Your lack of divisiveness makes you sound like some kind of terrorist. I don't trust you, and I bet people like you are somehow responsible for all the things I don't like.

sneetch.jpg
Click to expand...


Oh you sneaky son of a sneetch. You implying I'm some kind of Fix It Chappy?

tumblr_inline_nrtyzqD5t11qafrh6_500.gif




Honestly, though, people would do well to read more Dr. Seuss. The Sneetches is actually a remarkable analogue to what's going on right now.
 
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