"There is a cult of ignorance in the United States . . ."

[Strelnikov_]

There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.

Isaac Asimov

[Walleye]

1. Now they believe their ignorance is actually better than our knowledge. And they hate democracy

[Fortinbras Armstrong]

62. A conservative told me, in as many words,

That my having a masters degree from Harvard was something to be ashamed of. I did not laugh in his face, although I was tempted.

[Walleye]

63. Just wow

[roamer65]

2. The virus will be a "come to Jesus" moment for many.

We all here see it’s tsunami on the horizon.

[Ocelot II]

3. It might be more a matter of Jesus coming to them before they've figured it out.

Specifically, the part where Jesus separates the sheep from the goats...

[The Magistrate]

4. There Is A Bertrand Russell Line I Like, Ma'am

"Many would sooner die than than think, and often do."

[empedocles]

47. TY

[burrowowl]

60. Bertrand Russell is

one of my favorite mathematicians and philosophers!

[roamer65]

5. +1000000000000000000

[Roc2020]

26. Indeed!

[Lord Ludd]

59. Bwah! Good one.

[Strelnikov_]

9. Well, 'Jesus' has already given us a highly effective and safe vaccine

so let's hope so.

[patphil]

6. Quote published from an interview with Asimov in the January 21, 1980 issue of Newsweek.

[Strelnikov_]

8. At the beginning of the Reagan administration

interesting.

[patphil]

10. Asimov was always a forward thinker; a visionary. He had "eyes that see and ears the hear".

[calimary]

20. Yup. And why am I not surprised?

That fucking reagan inspired the whole “greed is good” justification mentality.

[certainot]

28. which really got going in 1987 when he killled the fairness doctrine, which birthed Rw radio and

limbaugh, which was used to deify and excuse everything reagan/trickledown, and for 30 years amplified and excused the cult of ignorance.

if not for 30 years of unchallenged repetition from 1500 coordinated radio stations the 'cult of ignorannce' would have been a normal small minority, we'd be 15 pts left, and gw bush and trump would not have gotten anywhere close to the white house.

[AllaN01Bear]

29. long before that .

[Red Pest]

34. No, Reagan was elected in November 1980 and began his term on Jaunary 20, 1981

January 1980, was the beginning of the last year of Jimmy Carter's term.

[NewHendoLib]

7. their ignorance is intimidated and shamed by knowledge, so they double down on it.

[Archae]

11. Asimov wrote an essay during the 1950's on this...

"The Cult Of Ignorance"

In the essay, he took to task the current (for that decade) mass media and how intellectuals and knowledge were portrayed.

With Trump, his goons and his cronies, it's a cult of stupidity.
QAnon is in this cult, as is the anti-vaxxers, and most of the right-wing.

And these people who don't even believe in their own pet conspiracies, are still pushing them, for political, and financial gain.

And the crazies and zealots just follow along, right off the cliff.

[Evolve Dammit]

12. It is incredible. Tens of millions knuckle draggers keeping us down. They are not going to change.

[Pepsidog]

13. Carl Sagan said something similar in a book many years ago.

[hot2na]

14. Carl Sagan also called it just before he died in 1996

I have a foreboding of an America in my children’s or grandchildren’s time — when the United States is a service and information economy; when nearly all the manufacturing industries have slipped away to other countries; when awesome technological powers are in the hands of a very few, and no one representing the public interest can even grasp the issues; when the people have lost the ability to set their own agendas or knowledgeably question those in authority; when, clutching our crystals and nervously consulting our horoscopes, our critical faculties in decline, unable to distinguish between what feels good and what’s true, we slide, almost without noticing, back into superstition and darkness…

Sagan believed in progress and, unlike Vico, thought that “timeless natural law” is discoverable with the tools of science. And yet, he feared “the candle in the dark” of science would be snuffed out by “the dumbing down of America…”

…most evident in the slow decay of substantive content in the enormously influential media, the 30 second sound bites (now down to 10 seconds or less), lowest common denominator programming, credulous presentations on pseudoscience and superstition, but especially a kind of celebration of ignorance…

[BobTheSubgenius]

25. If it doesn't fit on a bumper sticker, it's not good policy.

[Farmer-Rick]

15. Yeah, because stupid people are soon parted from their money and labor.

Keeping people stupid ensures they don't push back against propaganda and lies. It makes the filthy rich more filthy.

[CloudWatcher]

33. +1000000

WC Fields said it best,

As my dear old grandfather Litvak said (just before they swung the trap), he said "You can't cheat an honest man. Never give a sucker an even break or smarten up a chump."

Most politicians, businesses and churches don't want an educated population, they want a world of chumps they can exploit.

Is it any wonder our education systems have failed?

[Botany]

16. "The false notion that democracy means that my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge."

[lunatica]

43. And my opinion is equal, if not better than, your facts.

[Botany]

45. And I know more about viruses than Dr. Fauci.

N/t

[lunatica]

48. Yeah

My GED is as good as his PHD.

[Botany]

49. I literally read from a Ms. Davis of S.W. Missouri that she didn't like the way Fauci was doing ....

... his research on the vaccine.

What she didn't like the way he was sequencing out the virus' RNA Genome?

[Traildogbob]

17. Overpopulated?

The massive outbreak of CBWD in herds of deer, coincides with exceeding carrying capacity. All species that reach that level get diseases that drop the numbers drastically. Wildlife specialists take drastic measures to control population levels to keep the herd numbers viable and able to prevent outbreaks of deadly diseases. (🤔 just sayin)
People are worrying about species crossover of CBWD.
Sorry, WAY TOO late. The disease is rampage through GQP and MAGATs. The CBWD literally stands for “Chronic Brain Wasting Disease”.
Some Bubbas thought the Brains of deer, wrapped in bacon with eggs would be great. They did not believe in the science of that disease either. It was a way for Obama and Biden to take your guns and save the Bambi.
(the first part is fact, the bubbas eating diseased brains and cross over, “allegedly”. Prove me wrong brain wasting is not raging in GQP MAGATs.😜🤪🤣 .

[calimary]

18. Oh DAYUM!!! That's the quote of the year!

Maybe of this whole era.

[Initech]

21. I dunno, I think Bill Hicks has a good one:

"Ever notice how the people who are against evolution look really unevolved?"

[calimary]

30. That's a good one, too!

Last edited Mon Aug 9, 2021, 03:26 PM - Edit history (1)

[druidity33]

41. yeah but...

isn't Bill Hicks really Alex Jones?

[MustLoveBeagles]

50. Ain't that the truth!

[Lonestarblue]

19. And the media contributes by "balancing" the ignorance of one side as mere opinion as equal to

and equal to the knowledge on the other side. It’s way past time for the media to stop presenting both sides as valid when one side is bats**t crazy.

[Joinfortmill]

22. Yes, and sometimes it's deliberate ignorance.

[Initech]

23. Yup! And it's being led by Fox News, Newsmax, OAN, and Alex Jones.

[Jon King]

24. THose who crave power have always gone after the intellectuals first.

That is the blueprint of autocrats and those who want minority rule through out history. Always demonize the intellectuals first and keep the masses dumb.

[Roc2020]

27. What's ironic is the internet

which is supposed enhance knowledge and intellect have deceived and hoodwinked millions. Strange times.

[Blue_true]

57. Excellent point.

The Internet allows a lie to gain roots and never be challenged. Of course, the profiteers off the Internet (Facebook, Google, and others seem to exist to spray gasoline on the raging fire).

[onetexan]

31. As there are in other countries. The rise of fascism/whiye nationalism has just been allowed to

Fester & morph into something much worse & dangerous past 10 years esp'ly bc of our lack of gun laws, & sadly obama's admin did nothing about it. Came the Con who took advantage of the heightened danger & ran w it.

[larwdem]

32. wow

soo true

[Auggie]

35. "Our individual ignorance defends our group ignorance."

There’s strength in idiocy. Morons unite!

[Act_of_Reparation]

36. Richard Hofstadter had these people pegged back in the 1950s.

The Paranoid Style in American Politics

American politics has often been an arena for angry minds. In recent years we have seen angry minds at work mainly among extreme right-wingers, who have now demonstrated in the Goldwater movement how much political leverage can be got out of the animosities and passions of a small minority. But behind this I believe there is a style of mind that is far from new and that is not necessarily right-wing. I call it the paranoid style simply because no other word adequately evokes the sense of heated exaggeration, suspiciousness, and conspiratorial fantasy that I have in mind. In using the expression “paranoid style” I am not speaking in a clinical sense, but borrowing a clinical term for other purposes.

[Poiuyt]

61. Hofstadter also wrote a classic book on the topic-- "Anti-Intellectualism in American Life"

[Act_of_Reparation]

64. I'd like to say I'm surprised more people haven't read him...

...but I'm not.

Dude should be required reading in any American history class.

[peppertree]

37. Like in any country, really

Except, of course, nowhere is mass ignorance as consequential as when it happens here.

[GoCubsGo]

38. I wonder if he ever dreamed that the cult would get as big as it has.

I'm sure that if he was still alive, he'd be beyond horrified at how bad it's gotten.

[Brother Mythos]

39. Yes, there is. I call it the Republicult.

[Journeyman]

40. It's more accurate (and better) if you include the inter-quote single quotation marks . . .

There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.'

This way, you maintain Asimov's intent that he was paraphrasing the belief of the ignorant, rather than fostering the idea Asimov was as deluded as those he was characterizing.

[Escurumbele]

42. Republicans have been fomenting ignorance because it is easier to manipulate the ignorant

They don't want independent thinkers, they don't want people who can do their own analysis, like Religion does, they want you to believe everything they say, they want your undivided faith.

Like communists, the moment they have your undivided loyalty and faith they will fight against the religion that has served them so well, it happens every time in communist and totalitarian regimes. read some history and you will find out that a common on these regimes is the persecution of religion, it has happened throughout history.

Why is it that republicans are always trying to destroy public education? Betsy Devos was not placed as secretary of education by chance, she was there to destroy. Why is it that republicans oppose free education? Why is it that republicans always want to cut on art, music programs, those subject that make people think in more liberal ways, that gets them closer to nature and other humans?

This is all by design, so take the time to educate your kids, not only in math and science, but give them the gift of the arts, music, literature, introduce them to the Opera, take them to art galleries, classical concerts, rock concerts, jazz, etc., introduce them to other cultures, we don't have to take an airplane to learn about them, teach them about other religions, etc. I am sure that the majority if not all at DU already do that.

[Locrian]

44. indeed I would add - climate change to covid 19: hold my beer - n/t

[Hekate]

46. Or as my late father used to say: "The world is full of idiots"

[MustLoveBeagles]

51. Your dad was was right

[bem6207]

52. I can not make this up....

Just got this shit in a group text…I am dumbfounded.

“Okay…. The medication Pam is talking about below you can get at the feed and seed and it is Ivermectin and you do it for Covid prevention. It is super rare that your doctors office will give you Ivermectin as a preventative so folks found ways around it. It is liquid for injections into animals but humans just mix it with a little juice. The text below is what Pam sent to us siblings just now. I wanted to pass it on to the people I love so here you go”….

“Ok-I found out that ivermectin liquid that you take by mouth is actually ivermectin injectable. That being said, I bought 4 (50)Cc bottles. The lady still has more. With taxes, it's $36/bottle.

What I bought will cover us for awhile for Covid prevention. I'm not sure how long it will cover us if we get it (increased dosage then).
If possible, we should all meet at Mama's on Tuesday evening and start our preventative doses. The preventative dose is 1 ml/100lbs once a week.

The first round of Covid 'shots' is on me. Just a little joke there because you mix the liquid Ivermectin in with a little juice and drink it. 😊
How does this plan sound to y'all”?

[whathehell]

53. Um, yeah..and I'm sure none exists elsewhere..

[BannonsLiver]

54. We're the best at it, by far.

No red, white and blue Lee Greenwood colored glasses here.

[whathehell]

56. Meh..We get more scrutiny and pushback on it

but the assertion that we're the worst needs more in the way of evidence than fashionable self- loathing.

[Ialwaysvote]

55. civic ignorance

[Beacool]

58. Well said.

I remember one of my college professors stating that Adlai Stevenson never had a chance of being elected president because Americans are anti-intellectuals. We are a nation of dimwits.