For many - perhaps most - Americans, so does counting all the way to six.

 

I don't think that even Derrida would accept ignorance as an acceptable narrative.

As much as I dislike absolutes, in our context of an informed public we are failing.

"Folk Epistemology" is a narrative that I subscribe to and learn from, however in the context of a "greater good", which I believe exists, most of us aren't achieving it. We would rather be doing something else that is either hedonistic or uh...hedonistic.



In the practical world where the rest of us live we are busy living our lives, making money and feeding ourselves and our family. We work crappy jobs and have fun on the weekends to dull our pain. We have hobbies and activities, and at the end of the day we might listen or watch the news for an hour and that's it. It's understandable why we aren't intellectual, but why are we anti-intellectual?

We feel "elite" through money and status, not through pretentious and pie in the sky argumentation and discourse. Not only do we not care about being informed we are proud of it and I think to a point are defensive about it. When pushed we know that being informed doesn't really amount to much practically; it doesn't put food on our table.

I also forgot about religion as a "be all end all" guide... but I'm too lazy to talk about that.


As an elitist jerk I'd recommend for others to be informed, not only for my benefit, but for their own.

 

I'd recommend it just for my benefit so I don't have to deal with idiots as often as I do

 

I was reading a newspaper column the other day that also dealt with the fringe of dumbness -- it was talking about insanity among the voting public, citing things like 27% of the electorate voting for Allan Keyes against Barack Obama. Keyes is practically a certified bull goose looney. But despite things like past polls that showed that most Americans believed that the 9/11 attacks came from Iraq, one can find similar statistics in almost any country. A recent study in the UK discovered that about a quarter of the surveyed population thought that Winston Churchill was a mythical figure who never existed. In Canada, a majority of high school students were unable to identify John A. Macdonald as the first prime minister of Canada. Ignorance does not respect international borders.

I should add that while I disagree with the author's conclusions that video is a major contributor to American ignorance (shades of people deploring TVs "vast wasteland" in the 1950s), there have been eras where intellectuals were held in high repute, like the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when people like Nicholas Murray Butler and Woodrow Wilson commanded the admiration of millions. During the Roosevelt and Kennedy periods, intellectuals were also held in high repute and had considerable power and influence. I do agree that things like this are cyclical.

Zeiss

 

Hence the apology. I was trying to show the futility of being a blowhard to a group of blowhards, especially when your intended audience really won't put up with that crap.

What I wonder though, is, when did the tide turn? I'll assume we've always been a little ignorant, but when did we become so proud about it?

I'm asking for the sake of asking: where does the "greater good" fit in society that has a preference for hedonism? Are you leading to a sense of "collective hedonism?"

We get to being the elite through either hard work, inheritance, or dumb luck.

This is where I somewhat disagree with you. Being informed makes the difference between what stocks to choose, what careers to choose, and bettering one's quality of life. Informed decisions are often better than uninformed ones.

That said, you are right in asserting that we only want to be as informed as is necessary to meet our goals of becoming elite (and typically no further).

You lead up to (but don't quite state) what I believe is the actual rub with Americans. The Intellectual has self-forged his/her own value systems, rather than deferring to seemingly "American" values of duty, honor, and hard work (for hard work's sake).

I wouldn't even ascribe it directly to religion, but yes, we have a fascination with Kantian ethics that may not be intellectually healthy.

Noted.

I only want them informed to benefit my position. As per their benefit, I could care less. Congruently, I don't complain about the quality of service from minimum wage employees either. Their manager is there to take my abuse.

 

I (and every boss I've ever worked for) have always held the opinion that brevity is a vital trait in expressing yourself. I'm too busy getting shit done at my job to waste 20 minutes learning about why this author thinks I'm stupid from her ivory tower.

Edit: BTW, there is something, I dunno, unseemly about an author and columnist telling me I'm dumb for watching TV and surfing the internet instead of reading the books and articles she writes. BTW, I read numerous websites and the WSJ daily, plus an average or 3-4 books a month. So she can SuckIt!

 

What I wonder though, is, when did the tide turn? I'll assume we've always been a little ignorant, but when did we become so proud about it?

***I don't know why. Perhaps entitlement? Maybe we assume we are intelligent/informed in terms of what we need and anything above that is worthless?


I'm asking for the sake of asking: where does the "greater good" fit in society that has a preference for hedonism? Are you leading to a sense of "collective hedonism?"

***I don't know this one either. Surprised? The "greater good" in this case is self improvement through knowledge. (for no other gain but knowledge itself) "Hedonism" would be the external wants and temptations. As far as I can tell these are like oil and water. But I think we can get to a median by shaking up the solution. Our consumption feels good, but isn't truly good...I just heard this today :

http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display...2/20/wilkinson/

on NPR(gasp!) this morning.

It has to do with consumption and how the author is against the curbing of such practice. The basis of the argument lies in Libertarianism (you can't tell me what to do). And I believe that's a false premise.


We get to being the elite through either hard work, inheritance, or dumb luck.


***Or all of the above?


This is where I somewhat disagree with you. Being informed makes the difference between what stocks to choose, what careers to choose, and bettering one's quality of life. Informed decisions are often better than uninformed ones.

***I should have been more clear, you are right. I was talking about being informed in other ways that don't seem to benefit outright.

That said, you are right in asserting that we only want to be as informed as is necessary to meet our goals of becoming elite (and typically no further).

You lead up to (but don't quite state) what I believe is the actual rub with Americans. The Intellectual has self-forged his/her own value systems, rather than deferring to seemingly "American" values of duty, honor, and hard work (for hard work's sake).

***Perhaps. That makes the most sense to me why hard working people would be proud. They value things like honor more so than booklearnin'. It just seems like where we want to focus our effort. It is difficult to live a self examined life. Conversely it is difficult to live a hard working life. But if you just say "working life", that's easy. You can be brainless.
Since the middle class is this big ball of brainless people(!) it can shift to either the "working class" ethic or the "intellectual".


I wouldn't even ascribe it directly to religion, but yes, we have a fascination with Kantian ethics that may not be intellectually healthy.

***Yes, things like the aforementioned honor and hard work (which are of course infallible) .


Noted.

I only want them informed to benefit my position. As per their benefit, I could care less. Congruently, I don't complain about the quality of service from minimum wage employees either. Their manager is there to take my abuse.


***LOL...If any thing was unclear, or not properly explained it's because I'm being brainless at work. I could write pages about this, and the sad thing is, is that I 'd like to do it.


Chris Stack wrote: " I (and every boss I've ever worked for) have always held the opinion that brevity is a vital trait in expressing yourself. I'm too busy getting shit done at my job to waste 20 minutes learning about why this author thinks I'm stupid from her ivory tower"

Every English teacher said the same thing. And I agree. However every philosophy teacher I had said the opposite.

 

V_a=V_b+V_a/b

 

I knew it!

 

Touch