tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8820814198873126054.post2018681938190252950..comments2023-10-20T05:51:51.625-04:00Comments on The THINK 3 INSTITUTE: An Intellectual attempts to explain Anti-IntellectualismSamuel Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00934870299522899944noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8820814198873126054.post-85241240667718789462010-06-25T12:27:07.217-04:002010-06-25T12:27:07.217-04:00You're probably closer to the truth than Cohen...You're probably closer to the truth than Cohen was. I think the sort of people you describe feel that they can get by fine without all the extra information and resent the suggestion that they need to know it and deal with it. Also, Most anti-intellectuals today wouldn't identify with the Inquisition because in their minds the "cultural elite" has the power and is forcing its secular humanism (or environmentalist paganism) down people's throats the same way the Inquisition used to force its dogma down the throats of heretics. And in their mind any challenge to their traditions is "telling them how to live." What they forget is that democracy always requires us to let a majority tell us how to live, within certain constitutional limits. On the other hand, their idea of democracy is that the majority shouldn't have to do something just because the experts or the intellectuals say so. Every political system is a mixed blessing like that.Samuel Wilsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00934870299522899944noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8820814198873126054.post-25818928636866164212010-06-24T22:34:46.088-04:002010-06-24T22:34:46.088-04:00I believe you are correct to an extent, but I also...I believe you are correct to an extent, but I also believe that anti-intellectuals also suffer from a certain amount of intellectual laziness. <br /><br />Intellectuals use "big" words they don't understand. Show them studies full of mathematical probabilities and equations they don't understand. Talk about theories they don't understand. And rather than educating themselves so they can understand, they simply resent and hate. <br /><br />History abounds with examples. DaVinci comes to mind. The church didn't oppose DaVinci because he was telling them how to live. They opposed him because he used scientific fact to prove their beliefs wrong.<br /><br />I believe the same still holds true. Those on the right, especially those of the religious right, oppose intellectuals because it casts shadows on their entire belief system. For them, it is much easier to "believe" than to learn.<br /><br />Take a good look at their "idols", the radio talk show hosts. Out of the major 4 (Rush, Beck, O'Riley and Hannity) 3 of them either dropped out of college or were drummed out. Only Bill O'Riley actually managed to make it through four years of college and his degree is in theology.<br /><br />I would wager that a lot of resentment from these people lies in the fact that they are, intellectually speaking, losers. And they hate having to face the realization that they are losers so they drum up anti-intellectual feelings in their repective audiences.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com