Anyone care to try.
S'not as easy as - Who's on First -.
Ford to bee an Egghead,requires,mush mores,much much
more Danny sheer convention and commonplace.
I mean,if dat's all it tooks,then hows come Oscar Wilde said:
" The public is wonderfully tolerant.They forgive everything
except genius." - { Intentions } 1891
Could help to explain the Rove Syndrome.

America has a broad and wide anti-intellectual strain. You notice it particularly if you live in an Asian society under Chinese influence, where the Confucian ethic, with its emphasis on the importance of writing and education and scholarship, prevals.

I think part of it comes from Christianity. Paul, as an excuse for why the wise did not swallow his preaching, but only the superstitious, derided wisdom and learning and pronounced it useless, and even an affront to God. Christianity has always had a mistrust of wisdom and learning, since so often it leads to independence of thinking.

But America is far more anti-intellectual than most other Christian countries--so much so that there is positive peer pressure in high schools, especially among boys, to avoid academic achievement. This derives from a self-defensiveness among those who are not able to deride those who are--to be expected: the amazing thing is that adults and teachers let them get away with it.

This is mainly the culture's fault. Learning does not come from spending more money on education, but from the family and community putting education on top. The main avenues of public expression nowadays--TV and movies and pop music--do the opposite.

Great post, Thislin. Being a "geek" or a "nerd" should be a good thing.

Great post, Thislin. Being a "geek" or a "nerd" should be a good thing.
Good except avoid the bandaid holding the glasses frame together.

Did someone say wisdon?
Christianity has always had a mistrust of wisdom and learning, since so often it leads to independence of thinking.

[QUOTE=Thislin]America has a broad and wide anti-intellectual strain. You notice it particularly if you live in an Asian society under Chinese influence, where the Confucian ethic, with its emphasis on the importance of writing and education and scholarship, prevals.

" Men's natures are alike;it is their habits that carry them apart. "
-- Confucius
I think part of it comes from Christianity. Paul, as an excuse for why the wise did not swallow his preaching, but only the superstitious, derided wisdom and learning and pronounced it useless, and even an affront to God. Christianity has always had a mistrust of wisdom and learning, since so often it leads to independence of thinking.

The Way of Things {1940}
" The successors of Christ,from St.Paul down to the censors,
obscurantists,and tyrants of today have done their best conscientious
worst to hide the light from men. "
-- Montague {American Theist}

Did someone say wisdon?
Christianity has always had a mistrust of wisdom and learning, since so often it leads to independence of thinking.


" The wise man is free,since one who does as he wishes is free ...
Because he does what he wishes,the free man is wise .... One who
acts with wisdom has nothing to fear,for fear lives in sin.Where
there is no fear there is no liberty;where there is liberty there is the
power of doing what one wishes.Therefore,only the wise man is free. "
--St.Ambrose { Letter to Simplicianus, c.386 }

"Patriotism is the virtue of the viscous" - Oscar Wilde

"Patriotism is the virtue of the viscous" - Oscar Wilde

Lady Windermere's Fan {1892}

" Life is far too important a thing ever to talk seriously about. "
-- Wilde Act III

Lady Windermere's Fan {1892}

" Life is far too important a thing ever to talk seriously about. "
-- Wilde Act III

One of my all time favorite quotes. :)