Our Cult of Ignorance

Isaac Asimov: 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”.

Comments

  1. bibok says:

    the strain of b…shit of Isaaac Asimov is lethal

    young Asimov was not a snob, he as too stupid for that, too fundamentally repressed

    old Asimov, not a snob , but all the same very well pleased at their own thoughts
    (very similar to the boorish kahlil gibran’s or reader’s digest maxima…

    • Michael says:

      wat

    • Custador says:

      Wat

    • Mahousniper says:

      wat

    • Elemenope says:

      It’s hard to tell, and I could very well be wrong, but it seems as though bibok called Asimov a douchebag.

      And he’s not allowed to do that. Only certain people who have dearly earned that right can pull that off.

      Maybe I’m not translating it right. For example, I have no idea how Gibran got in there. I figure, just ignore it and hope for the best.

    • Ty says:

      It’s true. Only and idiot would get three PhD’s in different disciplines, and write what is still one of the largest bodies of work in American literature. Only a douche would spend his entire life in the pursuit of bettering himself and educating others.

      Yeah, what an ass. How dare he flaunt his SF grand master status at me!

    • Baluba says:

      QED

    • Chris says:

      So you are basically responding by utilising the very issue Asimov is addressing. Calling him a snob, which by its very nature is addressing his intellectual status. Congratulations!

    • TAB says:

      Interesting how easy it is to call someone “stupid” when you don’t have to back it up. Asimov had a Doctorate in Biochemistry and was a tenured professor at Boston University. He also was a long-time member and Vice President of Mensa International [the organization for geniuses]. I’m not sure where “stupid” plays into this.

      As far as Asimov’s comments about a cult of ignorance goes, any number of assessments show that the average American is functionally illiterate when it comes to science (National Science Foundation’s annual survey); religion (Stephen Prothero, Boston University); geography (National Geographic Society); math (U.S. Dept. of Education). Anyone who has followed the Creationism-Evolution controversy knows that Asimov was spot on with his comments.

  2. Charles Corum says:

    Click on “bibok,” and check out his web page. The guy obviously has very serious mental and psychological problems.

  3. Josh Stewart says:

    WAT

  4. Bev says:

    I totally agree with Asimov. Everyone screams about how it’s everyone right and/or responsibility to vote, but no one seems to care if a person’s vote is an *informed* or *intelligent* vote. No, let’s all go to the voting booth and just punch a button (any button) and brag about how we’ve done our civic duty! If I can’t take the time to research the issues and/or candidates, I will leave it to someone who is more informed.

  5. D'n says:

    Via Aristotle:
    The fundamental flaw in democracy is thinking that people who are equal in some respects (equal rights, equal treatment, etc.) are equal in all respects (equal intelligence, equal grasp of absolute truth, etc.).
    The post-modern society, since the early 1900′s has run with this idea. The “intellectuals” are all believed to be corrupt because everyone knows that you can’t get to real truth. The “real people” are considered to be smarter, wiser, etc. The idea is that real truth is unattainable and experience is the only thing that is reliable. Logic, reason, science, these are anathema to the post-modern world view that has spread throughout our society. Religious people love it because it allows them to deny science because “scientists weren’t there” i.e. they didn’t have direct experience and therefore don’t know anything. Crackpots (like republicans) love it because they can claim any truth they want and simply attack those who contradict them for being “intellectual” i.e. trying to search for actual knowledge.
    It is a sickness in America that took root very strongly because of our extreme democratic and individualistic mentality. Americans don’t like the idea that someone else could be better than them. The whole principle behind freedom of speech was that all opinions should be given equal voice. The problem is that many people think that if all opinions should be heard that is because all opinions are right. It is only a small step from there to believe that my opinion is right (simply by virtue of me holding it) and that all other opinions are wrong. If you have a culture that says “everyone’s opinion is correct” then those holding the opinions will quickly realize the logical contradictions (all opinions can’t be correct because some opinions contradict each other) and say “well if my opinion is right then all others must be wrong.”
    The sickness of post-modern relativism has poisoned our culture. Now people see a scientist asserting a truth and a religious person asserting a “truth” and say “I can’t tell you too apart!” It doesn’t matter that one has a mountain of evidence while the other does not, evidence doesn’t matter in a relativistic world. Think about the fact almost none of the founding fathers of America were true christians. Now every serious politician must tout his christian religiosity or be doomed. What happened? We stopped believing in “truth” in the idea that some ideas are right and others are wrong. Religion was dying because anyone who could think realized that religion doesn’t work. Now relativism says that it doesn’t matter if religion makes sense because there is no “truth” and you can believe anything you want at all.

Leave a Comment

*