Trump could not have surprised me more when he tweeted that
he was a stable genius. If he claimed to
be able to walk on water that would not have surprised me as much because that
would not only be immediately verifiable but it would contribute to the data
that makes him certifiable and delusional, and even his evangelical followers
would scoff and be offended. But to claim
genius level mental ability in light of all the observational data of this man,
is truly galling. Those data include his
vocabulary that hovers between 4th and 6th grade level, his
lack of knowledge of science, his lack of knowledge of history, his lack of
knowledge of the Constitution, his lack of knowledge of the Bill of Rights, his
lack of knowledge of policy and economics, his inability to accept a reality
that differs from his delusions, and on and on we go. He is proud to announce he does not read
books. He is not only not a genius, he
is a poorly informed, poorly educated man.
Genius does not need to announce itself.
Genius is obvious.
How in the world have we reached a point in our history
where this man has adamant supporters who believe we just need to give him a
chance? There is, sadly, only one
explanation I can see.
We have become anti-intellectual. We have become stupid. We have reached a point where knowledge, science,
expertise, understanding, scholarship and research have become irrelevant when
juxtaposed with arcane belief systems.
For instance, we know that people with a college degree earn
31% more in their lifetime than people with an associate’s degree, and college
degreed people earn 74% more in their lifetime than people with just a high
school diploma. Of course there are
outliers. But given the dramatic
difference in earning potential one would think every public school would be
pushing students to go to college. But I
have sat with school board members who articulate that “not everyone should go
to college.” Really? Is there a group of students you would like
to see underpaid in their lifetimes? Why
would you want that? Because those board
members did not go to college so they have formed a belief system that is
contrary to fact.
Why do conservative parents worry that if their kids go to
college they will be influenced by liberal college professors? Simply put, college professors tend to know
much more than the average population and therefore tend to be liberal. When students have grown up only hearing the
conservative side of an argument and then begin to see the facts, the data, the
research, they tend to become more liberal.
Have you read Descartes, Hume, Spinoza, Locke, Bacon, and
Hobbes? Our founding fathers had. Our nation was born on intellectual
principles mapped out for centuries by the best minds on the planet. The entire notion that people should rule
rather than kings or queens or military dictators is not a notion that sprung
full grown from the head of Zeus in 1776.
Our democracy was grounded in great philosophy. Liberal philosophy. The very notion that the rich, wealthy,
powerful and/or ancestry should rule was anathema to our foundation. The notion that all men are created equal,
that all should be able to pursue life, liberty and happiness, that rights of
freedom of the press, freedom of and from religion, freedom to protest, freedom
from false imprisonment, etc., were so important that they needed to be
included in the Constitution. We have
lost sight of those intellectuals and the great work they did to establish this
nation. They were not perfect, and in
hindsight we see the flaws in their practice regarding women and slavery. But they were liberal thinkers. They were intellectuals.
When Trump talked about draining the swamp he was really
talking about removing those people with knowledge, expertise and experience
from the halls of government. There
could not be a more clear declaration of anti-intellectualism than that
phrase. Trump is creating a new
swamp. His swamp is
anti-intellectual. He has made appointments
for positions where family and friends and supporters means so much more than
expertise and wisdom. We now have a
bureaucracy considerably less well equipped to handle the challenges of today than
we had before.
As a kid in church on Sunday morning we sang from a
hymnbook. There were not only lyrics,
there were notes, keys, meter, clefs, and dynamics. I learned to read music in church, further
advanced by learning to play instruments as I grew older. Now even that is no longer true. We have a church service where lyrics are
projected on a screen and no one can or does read music. We are dumber. It is very difficult to value the fine arts
when one does not possess the skills of even the simplest forms of those
arts. Sadly, those services with
projected lyrics are self-proclaimed “contemporary” services. Lord help us.
As a college student I was taught to question
everything. I was taught critical
thinking. I was taught problem
solving. I was taught to examine my
belief systems in light of the truth, facts, science and knowledge. Now, to suggest to those without such skills
that perhaps they may want to examine their beliefs is not only a waste of
time, it may be viewed as fighting words.
“For every complex problem there is a simple solution. And it is wrong.” H.L. Mencken.
An intellectual who understood that the solution to immigration issues is
not a wall. The solution for creating
jobs is not to give the wealthy tax breaks.
The solution for promoting peace on planet earth is not to insult other
leaders. The solution to saving the
climate of our planet is not to withdraw from international efforts to do so
while making the pollution of the planet easier. And on and on.
Whether you believe it or not, scientific truths remain. Those truths do not need for you to believe in
them because they are true. The planet
is about 4.5 billion years old, not 6,000.
Humans and dinosaurs were never on this planet together. Evolution is real and a scientific fact. The earth is not flat. We orbit the sun, not vice versa. Global warming is happening. Humans have caused and contributed to global
warming. 90% of all life forms in the
history of our planet are now extinct and we are in the midst of the 6th
great extinction event. There are more
gifted kids in China than there are total number of kids in the US. All true.
We should be concerned.
Very concerned. We have in so
many ways abandoned our heritage of seeking truth, seeking justice, exploring
and learning. We enjoy all the benefits
of modern science and math and archeology and geology and history and physics
and chemistry, etc., etc. Would those
who chose to belief false beliefs over science be willing to sacrifice all the
benefits of science? I do not think
so. But frankly I see it as unethical to
ignore or deny science while using a computer, a cell phone, a microwave in an
air conditioned home, and taking modern pharmacology to live longer.
Intellectuals are not evil people. They want the same things everyone
wants. They just study, learn, think,
review, and question everything. They
would never place personal loyalty above commitment to noble causes, facts,
science and truth. If beliefs conflict
with facts intellectuals will go with the facts, not deny them.
Please read a book.
Please befriend an intellectual.
Intellectuals are becoming an endangered species and we can ill afford
to progress and prosper without them.
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