Original post here. This post was made in reference to American anti-intellectuallism throughout society. While I don't agree with everyone's sentiment in the thread, this was my favorite comment:
I'm going to throw one thing out there that will probably get buried. The world continues to become increasingly more complex to the point where fewer and fewer people can understand the basic mechanical underpinnings of the things around them. Essentially, it is a triumph of aggregate social, technological, and scientific advancement creating a world where less and less people can grasp the knowledge out there. Instead of accepting the this notion and admitting our relative helplessness and ignorance, people reject the very foundations of what has created their lifestyle to begin with. While people may be more educated, that doesn't mean they are smarter. They just simply have more standardized education. At one point, we probably had an intelligence surplus with people capable of doing much more technically complex things working manual labor. Today, that is not the case. We have the reverse problem, not enough intelligence and skill to fill the demand for highly technical professionals. Not everyone can be doctors, lawyers, and engineers. However, there simply aren't the number of blue collar jobs or even low level white collar jobs that can support the lifestyles we have been indoctrinated to believe we deserve.
When I speak to people about the true nature of public policy most people glaze over. It's extremely complex and people just can't seem to grasp many of the intricacies without training and even then some after that. Yet, this is topic that can have a big impact on their lives. So, to feel involved, they follow the McNews on the TV, designed to sway their opinion without having to explain anything. Pick any sufficiently advanced subject and speak to them about it. It might be difficult for you to grasp what they are talking about. For some people, no matter how hard you try, they will not understand the mathematical principles behind quantum mechanics. I think many people inherently understand their ignorance, but to the natural rah rah, Americans are the best, ethnocentric propaganda we are fed starting at infancy, this admission creates severe cognitive dissonance and eventually rejection. Instead of admitting we don't understand and are powerless, we reject those who we think know more than us and instead mirror our own personal values. For an example of this in action, just watch any GOP debate. While some of the candidates are true idiots (the eventual outcome of the trend I outlined), many are actually very intelligent people. So intelligent, they realize how stupid their base is and know what to say to win them over.
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