why is this country so hostile to intellectuals, and their attitudes and ideas? it can be seen in how religious ourr country is, how so many people seem to reject logical explanations in favor of rhtoric and propoganda, in the contnuing increase of our general enthusiasm for television, in how our governement doesn't seem to give 2 shits about the education system, much less higher education, and many many other things. I'm proably going to get a lot of flak for thsis, but why does our cultrue continuously reject those who base their life on thinking?

Have no fear. The anti-intellectuals will have no problem with your post.

Originally posted by WhammyBar
why is this country so hostile to intellectuals, and their attitudes and ideas? it can be seen in how religious ourr country is, how so many people seem to reject logical explanations in favor of rhtoric and propoganda, in the contnuing increase of our general enthusiasm for television, in how our governement doesn't seem to give 2 shits about the education system, much less higher education, and many many other things. I'm proably going to get a lot of flak for thsis, but why does our cultrue continuously reject those who base their life on thinking?



You want a completely honest answer? It's the attitude of the intellectuals, that's why. Frankly, the way you frame your question says a lot - why don't others (non-intellectuals)
like us? As if everyone else is stupid. That always seemed immensely ironic to me because I see so many so-called intellectuals on this board claim how caring and accepting they are of all people ([i]unlike those awful non-intellectuals) and then they turn around and denigrate those same people.

A lot of intellectuals are complete snobs. "Oh, you haven't read Kafka? What are you, some sort of idiot?" As if getting a degree in chemistry was the mark of a moron.

But my rant aside, the "intellectual" (and I use intellectual as a descriptor of a group of people, not of their assumed intelligence) argument hasn't always seemed that logical to me, at least in a lot of cases. The intellectual argument often seems to be almost naive - almost like it's in response to the way things should be as opposed to the way things are. "If only all of the people in the world would see beyond their difference . . ." - sure that would be wonderful, but it's not going to happen and we need to operate in the real world. The hostile response to it, beyond the aforementioned snob factor, is that a lot of people can feel in their gut that it's not practical. It's like an argument for a sterile lab environment.

I'll readily admit that the response to such an argument, far too often, is some sort of vitriolic slur. I have no idea why that is, and frankly that's always bugged me. Maybe people don't want to be bothered to explain what their gut tells them is right. Or maybe they're so put off by the way it's presented they don't even bother with a response. That's certainly the way I feel after reading some posts on this board.

Originally posted by WhammyBar
why is this country so hostile to intellectuals, and their attitudes and ideas? it can be seen in how religious ourr country is, how so many people seem to reject logical explanations in favor of rhtoric and propoganda, in the contnuing increase of our general enthusiasm for television, in how our governement doesn't seem to give 2 shits about the education system, much less higher education, and many many other things. I'm proably going to get a lot of flak for thsis, but why does our cultrue continuously reject those who base their life on thinking?

I think for one, noone has the time it takes to be truly informed on the issues. When you watch TV, you often only get half the truth. You have to seek out the truth, and that often takes quite a bit of personal time.

As far as our educational system is concerned, we are throwing good money after bad. We have a shortage of teachers because much of the $100 billion or so we spend on education per year never sees the classroom. Thank a bloated government bureacracy, local cronyism, etc., for that. Without proper incentive, you'll get pretty much what you pay for in terms of teachers. It's also the parents' fault just as much. Again, we don't have time to research the issues and with both parents working, we really don't have time to raise our kids these days. The parents aren't there to prod their kids like they used to because we have to have two parents working to pay for the things our grandparents (or parents, if you're older) could do on one salary. This is in part because people want more these days, and partly because salaries have not kept up with pricing, and partly because we're increasingly burdened with taxation that really doesn't buy squat.

Just my two cents.

Most people are too busy making a living to think of how things could be. Faced with the reality of everyday life, logic is to accept how things are and not have high blood pressure and digestive problems considering what could be.
Life is made up of many types of individuals. The first problem is that a so called intellectual may operate under a set of thoughts and rules that only pertain to him/her and not necessarily to others. What is the logic in that?
Countries and governments are merely people and
people are just people, you will never make more of them than they are.
Some of the smartest people I have met in my life would not fit into the intellectual definition.

The true winners in this life are those that find true happiness.

in how our governement doesn't seem to give 2 shits about the education system

The current amount of money the government is spending is $7000/year/student. Do you really think it's fair to say the government doesn't give 2 shits?

And how do you figure that the country is hostile to intellectuals?

and while democrats are soooo quick to say bush underfunded No Child Left Behind....they NEVER mention that academic standards have risen in almost all categories...so even though it wasn't given all the money it should have, it was still successful. But democrats will never say that...or even let it enter their minds.

Originally posted by Decka
they NEVER mention that academic standards have risen in almost all categories

The standards have risen or the performance has risen? It's easy to raise standards, harder to raise performance. But regardless, when you basically legislate that teachers teach kids to pass tests instead of teaching them the material you can produce an increase in test scores while not making anyone any smarter.

In any event, legislating that local governments spend their money to meet standards imposed by the federal government is so un-republican I don't know where to start.

There is a simple answer to this guestion. Religion. People will believe their religious teachings over fact. They will believe their religious teachings over scientific evidence, common sense or anything else. They resent being told that their religious beliefs are wrong. Science continues to prove that the interpretation of scriptures is not exact. Having based their entire existance and life on religious scripture they can't accept that that scripture may not be true. It would make their life a complete wash.

There are people who believe that horible diseases can be cured by prayer, that Noah actually put two of every species on the planet on his ark. There are people that absolutely cannot accept evolution because it goes against their religious teachings. Even if it was proved beyond a shadow of a doubt they would still deny it.

Was there a point to that rant?

Originally posted by Blibblob
Was there a point to that rant?

Is there ever a point to her rants?

this post got buried, but i really wanted to see peoples reactions, so i dug it up....

lionel: i'll give you my perspective on the snobby thing. i don't think others are stupid, i think they are apathetic and uninformed. it frustrates me that i can't hold a decent, grammatically correct, intelligent conversation with many of my peers simply because they choose not to pay any attention to their brains. i think that the health of ones brain is juts as important as any other part of the body, but that we don't, as a society, take good enough care of it. those who simply refuse to be critical thinkers make me angry. i understand that many people are taught to function otherwsie, but i think thinking is an essential part of a healthy life, right along with proper eating, exercise, and caring for emotional health.
i also beleive one of the things that sets human thinking apart from the thinking of other animals is that we can think abstractly. we can imagine a time and place completely different from the one we live in. we can go beyond the day to day and imagine a better life, a better society, a better world. it's an amazing thing to have, and i doubt any major advances in human society could be made without it.

Originally posted by Echo2
There is a simple answer to this guestion. Religion.

you sound like a broken record.

Originally posted by WhammyBar
why is this country so hostile to intellectuals, and their attitudes and ideas? it can be seen in how religious ourr country is, how so many people seem to reject logical explanations in favor of rhtoric and propoganda, in the contnuing increase of our general enthusiasm for television, in how our governement doesn't seem to give 2 shits about the education system, much less higher education, and many many other things. I'm proably going to get a lot of flak for thsis, but why does our cultrue continuously reject those who base their life on thinking?

There's intellectuals on both sides of the issues. Watching a four day conference on Social Security wouldn't be accepted. That's where the intellectuals are located.

People don't have time for being intellectual about all the issues. They don't. You can call Americans ignorant, but it's far too complicated to expect everyone to be an expert on social security. No doubt those "intellectuals" would not be able to frame a house or weld two peices of metal together. People have time for two second sound bites, or that's what the media tells us, anyways.

What you see is not a backlash against the intellectuals. Again, intellectuals are on both sides of every issue. Neither party is more or less intellectual than the other. To think so is just arrogant.

Originally posted by Brooks
Have no fear. The anti-intellectuals will have no problem with your post.
That's funny! :thumbs: