a thoughtful web.
Good ideas and conversation. No ads, no tracking.   Login or Take a Tour!
comment
kleinbl00  ·  3564 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Oklahoma Lawmakers Vote Overwhelmingly To Ban Advanced Placement U.S. History

I don't think we are. It seems to me that you're arguing that anti-intellectualism has its basis in culture, while I'm arguing that anti-intellectualism is a deliberate political maneuver by demagogues. I don't think there's a natural distaste for intelligence amongst humans, but I do think that when you don't pride yourself on your intelligence and somebody smart tells you to do something you don't want to do, you're ripe for a huckster to come in and explain that intelligent people are bad because intelligence is bad, let me count the ways. After all - we want our kids to grow up smart. We like to think we're more clever than the person who sold us a car/stereo/boat/house/whatever. Internally, we value intelligence. Externally, however, we value conformity more.