An Introduction of Sorts

Anti-Intellectualism

        What is it? Well, in laymen terms, its the belief that my ignorance is just as good as your factual knowledge (-Issac Asimov).  That I have the right to talk about a subject and publicize it as factual even if I've never even done research, or critically thought about what I'm discussing.  It is a dangerous precedent because it puts science, factual information and intellect at war against the stupidity of the masses and degenerates who would rather swallow everything they've been told; and then argue about how they're the ones who are "right."

           







Exactly.



       I went out to search a question of, how does Anti-Intellectualism affect America on an Intellectual and Educational Level?  How exactly does it make people "stupid?" Cause I'll be frank, I despise willfull ignorance, but even so, I was curious as how exactly has this trend of stupidity started from. 

>>>>>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owlCB9Xx1Sg&feature=youtu.be&hd=1 <<<<

This is a screencast explaining more about my blog, should you wish a quicker version of what I'm doing here.

A Personal Statement...about who I am

    because my teacher wanted one...

       But In all seriousness, who am I, to, educate you on the stupidity plaguing this country? Well, let me say I've been around the block at least once so I knew a few things. 

         I'm currently in my fourth year of college, and I've changed a lot since Highschool, I can assure you. I'm currently trying to earn my AA degree in Multimedia Production at Berkeley City College and its been a bit life changing, and in some ways continuous to do so. Or maybe I"m just a natural second guesser who is always dissatisfied with what I do and want to improve it. But back to my degree, video production (or anything related to it), has always been my true passion since I discovered it back in my Highschools Multimedia academy. At first I wanted to be an engineer-

(NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOPEEEEEEEEEEEE)

but my C in Pre-Cal said differently....so I followed my instincts ever since.Doing medial homework has been...something that requires a lot of discipline to focus doing. But with editing, film making or sound, I can just hop to it and work on hours on end without break. It is my hope
         

But what does this have to do with your topic of anti-intellectualism in America you might ask? 

         Because its what I chose to research, and hell, maybe one day I can make a documentary about it. And I have somewhat of a searing intolerance for willful ignorance. Like other people, I hate it when stupidity runs rampart, and worse of all, ends up winning over common sense and logic. Anti-Intellectualism, was something I heard about, only a few years ago, and for my critical thinking class, I decided o look more into it. Low and behold, I am now more informative about it than I was a few months ago. 

        

Reflection

So what changed over the last 50 years?

          Anti-Intellectualism went from being considered a suspicion and cynicalism on intellectualism, to being termed for a lack of critical thinking, and inability to concentrate. Well, looking at what also changed, the rise of digital media, and how people received information. And as someone who's been witness to this transformation of information consumption, I would have to say that the link between the two is there. 

News stations like Fox News and MSNBC essentially want you to root for their political side, throw insults and mud at the other, without wanting to consider one important reason...

WHY?

Like what Panpatonio said, the dumber you are, the easier it is for you to be swayed by their view. Almost like sports fans. Its only your team you root for, f*** those other guys, right? (Funny how that similar) Its what political party leaders like, people who would blindly follow or be easily swayed. And how is this connected to anti-intellectualism? Maybe because it is in itself, anti-intellectualism, and anti-rationalism. The inability to reason, or critically think about what the f*** you're actually doing.

In short, the digital media has helped be a pillar in the rise of anti-intellectualism....so who the hell built it?

We need only go back to what Hofstadter kept saying, about the lack of proper education in this country, which apparently has pre-existed for the last 50 years. Lack of proper funding, lack of stimulate growth, standardized tests,the exclusion of hands-on experience for the sake of budget. No doubt this has been having an effect on the country, how large this has been, I can't say, because I haven't researched that up yet, But looking at Patricia's article, about a senior school board executive who banned en entire curriculum he didn't even research about, it wouldn't be an exasperation for me to say that anti-intellectualism already took hold of some of the country. 

In short, people have come to, like they have for so long, come to scoff at, "being smart." 

Anti-Intellectualism is Destroying America

I looked for a TED talk about my subject, but I couldn't find anything. But I did find the next big thing, a more rantish opinionated voice on Anti-Intellectualism.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwV3kuKG4Nw


      Here, a rant by Papantonio, co-host of the Ring of Fire Radio Station, and prominent Trial Lawyer, goes deeper on the ramifications that anti-intellectualism is causing. Like Jacoby, its a modern look on Anti-Intellectualism and is more or less a backing of what Jacoby says about a lack of critical thinking being taught, and people in general having a lack of interest in reading. (Whether reading or not is any implication between being stupid or smart is different can of worms entirely). As Papantanio puts it, and Mr Tobin in my interview said, its the work of higher media execs using their power to spread influence, which is the main cause for, essentially, making people dumber. And not, an infatuation and obsession with athleticism. It is the loss of being taught how to critically think, that is the main culprit of anti-intellectualism in America

MIND. BLOWN.

An Interview

In order to learn more, I needed someone who I could speak to and ask questions

Unfortunately I couldn't get in contact with someone who work in the field, so I asked someone else, someone I knew who would help me to find a conclusive answer to my question. 

The Person I interviewed was my High-school history teacher. Now, I can hear some of you think, "Really?" He teaches about World History, American History, Economics, and American Governt. And having known him for six years, I can assuredly say that he is still more than qualified to discuss the topic at hand. 

The following is an excerpt by Patricia Williams in her article: Anti-Intellectualism is taking over America: “There has been an unfortunate uptick in academic book bannings and firings, made worse by a nationwide disparagement of teachers, teachers' unions and scholarship itself. Brooke Harris, a teacher at Michigan's Pontiac Academy for Excellence, was summarily fired after asking permission to let her students conduct a fundraiser for Trayvon Martin's family. Harris was an at-will employee, and so the superintendent needed little justification for sacking her. According to Harris, "I was told… that I'm being paid to teach, not to be an activist." 

1. As a teacher, would you consider this a symptom of anti-intellectualism/anti-rationalism?

Ms. Harris was fired for doing something the superintendent disapproved of and activism can stimulate intellectual development but not necessarily so I think her motivations are suspect, she could have built intellectual capacity in another way or created an activist campaign that would not have got her fired but in does create a "chilling effect" for teachers and their intellectual and pedagogical pursuits.

2. Do you think schools are a solution, or help cause an increasing growth of anti-intellectualism due to modern curriculum (standardized test and personal growth instead of critical thinking and pursuit of intellect)? 

School are definitely the solution but it might be at the college level given the psychological capacities of brain development, kids in their 20's are WAY more cognitively developed so that is where you would see the greatest growth given the time constraints and other demands on public school teachers, who should still give students some exposure to these skills.

3. What do you say to the notion that America’s infatuation (in this modern era), with sports, has been A factor for the decline of the pursuit of science and intellect?

Sports has NOTHING to do with it, people have always been obsessed with sport even the most intellectually developed. The real rise of anti-intellectualism is the news media which is owned and controlled by VERY wealthy people who don't want critical thinkers who would examine why they're so wealthy and why everyone else has to work so hard to maintain a standard of living that is in decline. If you look at the occupy movement and the press coverage and portrayal I can rest my case. Hope this helps, let me know if there's more I can do.

The Findings of My Research

In my search for answers I came across two articles:

The first one was by "The Dumbing of America," by Sean Jacoby, who argued as to the cause of Anti-Intellectualism and anti-rationalism, of that of the ever growing digital media. Her first part of her argument is that the decline in reading written information or literature is due to a subsequent rise of digital media. This leads into her second part of her argument, people have become impatient when acquiring new information. "The shrinking public attention span fostered by video is closely tied to the second anti-intellectualism part of American culture, the erosion of general knowledge" (Jacoby). Which ultimately ties into his third part that since Americans cannot be bothered to read the information, they "smugly conclude that they do not need to know such things in the first place" (Jacoby).

Jacoby makes a solid argument here because her finds are very fleshed out. But an assumption she makes is that the rise of digital media is solely responsible for the rise of anti-intellectualism. She talks about Modern anti-intellectualism, but never delves into anti-intellectualism before the digital media. 

The second article, "Anti-Intellectualism is taking over the US," by Patricia Williams’, goes more in depth about how people dismiss general knowledge. She writes about incidents where school board members will cut entire curriculums, or fire teachers, without even knowing what the material was. Her argument can be inferred that the spread of book banning's and firing of teachers for culture studies, is a cycle that continues to loop itself, spreading more and more.

Williams’s article isn't so much an argument, as more of an informative piece about the spreading of Anti-intellectualism in schools. However, she does weigh in her opinion, and throughout the article, and it’s clear what her point of view on the situation is. Her article does support what Jacoby said, that Americans are generally out-right ignoring crucial information. While she doesn't fully explain how these incidents affect the nation as a whole, the article still tells a grim effect of anti-intellectualism within the education system.

Links:

 http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2008-02-17/opinions/36908728_1_anti-rationalism-intellectualism-american-life

          

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/may/18/anti-intellectualism-us-book-banning

People don't like to be informed about things apparently. 

Anti-Intellectualism in American Life

To Learn more, I went off in search of a book

A book by the name of Anti-Intellectualism in American Life

By Richard Hofstadter

               This book, published in 1962, gives essential a history of intellectualism and anti-intellectualism in America since the founding fathers. But he doesn't narrow down the history of intellect in the U.S. to a “running battle between eggheads and fatheads." His main focus is that of the rise of a political correct evangelical influence, as well as the direction America’s education took that regularly favors personal growth rather than intellectual challenge. Starting from the Jefferson era to the early Kennedy administration, during which Hofstadter writes about, of the ever growing change to intellectualism. 

          Most of Hofstadters'  logic is based off events that contributed to the incline of anti-intellectualism, particularly during the Eisenhower administration. This in my opinion actually give the book its own identity that has its own view of the issue from a less modern perspective. It gives contrast to what the definition anti-intellectualism is in modern day, compared to what Hofstadter says it was during his era. In his words, “[anti-intellectualism] was the resentment against intellects, who ‘were once gently ridiculed, are now fiercely resented,’ not because of a decline, but an improvement in his fortunes. 

          What I particularly found interesting was the problems that plague schools today, have almost always existed after it became a more public domain. And that obsession with athleticism that apparently has persisted to this day. 

                 "A host of educational problems has arisen from indifference-underpaid teachers, overcrowded classrooms, double-schedule schools, broken-down school buildings, inadequate facilities and a number of of other failings that come from something else-a cult of athleticism, marching bands, high-school drum majorettes, ethnic gehtto schools, de-intellectualized curricula, the failure to educate in serious subjects, the neglect of academically gifted children. 

                   At times the schools of the country seem to be dominate by athletics, commercialism, and the standards of the mass media, and these extend upwards to a system of higher education whose worst failings were underlined by the bold president of the University of Oklahoma who hoped to develop a university of which the football team could be proud. Certainly some ultimate educational values seem forever to be eluding the Americans. At great effort and expense they send an extraordinary proportion of their young to colleges and universities, but their young, when they get there, do not seem to care even to read."

               Considering this was written in 1962, it brings a serious question, has anything really improved? While some would cry that anti-intellectualism has been on the rise...has it? Have schools always been lagging behind, thus causing a sever lack of children and adults that have the capacity to think critically? 
               Thanks to the authors thorough depth and explanation, I certainly had a better grasp of what I was learning about. Despite the book's publishing date, (and the authors more leftist views), it still provided a beneficial history of anti-intellectualism in American history that I can compare to modern day. Overall, I enjoyed the book, and while it doesn't address the issue that one might expect, it does broaden one's view on what is considered anti-intellectualism.