Of Fear and Anti-Intellectualism. – Essay (Other) – VA 2017<\/p>\n
Fear.\u00a0\u00a0 It manifests differently in everyone, but common results include anxiety and anger.\u00a0\u00a0 Anxiety is an internal reaction, that often makes someone want to run away or stay hidden in place.\u00a0 It is the ‘flight’ half of the equation.\u00a0\u00a0 Anger is the more visible of the two, the ‘fight’ half, that we – the collective we – have to deal with.\u00a0 We’ve been dealing with it, but it isn’t going away anytime soon.\u00a0 The more I talk to people, and the more I examine myself,\u00a0 I learn a lot of fear stems from ignorance.\u00a0\u00a0 Ignorance is not knowing something, and stupidity has more to do with one’s ability to learn.\u00a0 It’s important to draw the line between the two.\u00a0\u00a0 Someone who is genuinely stupid but has a good attitude can overcome many things.\u00a0 Someone who is ignorant, who has the aptitude to learn, but chooses not to is considerably more problematic.\u00a0 We have a great many who are not only willfully ignorant but are doing their best to ensure others cannot learn as well.<\/p>\n
We now live in an age wherein anti-intellectualism is celebrated from segments of the population.\u00a0 From deep within their safe-place echo-chambers, they dismiss anything and everything that does not neatly fit within their narrative.\u00a0 Their beliefs and their identities are so intertwined that they must reject all non-conforming everything, including reality itself.\u00a0\u00a0 Facts no longer matter.\u00a0 People are now defending statements such as “alternative facts” and “we can disagree with the facts” both of which were given to cover lies.\u00a0 It was bad enough when news and entertainment were intermingled such that it became more difficult to discern between one and other, but to outright reject the difference between objective and subjective is dangerous.<\/p>\n
Issac Asimov once said \u201cAnti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that\u00a0‘my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.’<\/em>\u201d\u00a0 By erasing the line between objective and subjective, it emboldens the irrational to continue dismantling everything they don’t believe in.\u00a0 Everything that doesn’t fit neatly into their box becomes a target.\u00a0 Human rights?\u00a0 Undone.\u00a0 Education funding?\u00a0 Cut.\u00a0 Science?\u00a0 Ignored, censored, or deleted.\u00a0\u00a0 A government by faith alone is doomed to fail.\u00a0 Not only is it not representational of its people, but it is not founded on any sound principle.<\/p>\n Fear is not founded on any sound principle either.\u00a0 The more I talk to anti-intellectuals, the more I get fear from them.\u00a0\u00a0 I don’t fully understand what all they’re afraid of yet, as I do not share their fears.\u00a0\u00a0 Simply asking doesn’t work,\u00a0 it often results in more anger because that’s what they feel.\u00a0 They feel angry, they don’t feel afraid.\u00a0 It’s only the self-aware that realize they’re afraid, and even then it’s those willing to let go.\u00a0\u00a0 There is a lot of peer-pressure in some of these groups to never budge.\u00a0\u00a0 Change is weakness.\u00a0 In other terms, growth is weakness.\u00a0 They’re trying to be frozen in time.\u00a0 Some are even trying to not only go backwards in time, but take us with them.<\/p>\n They’re scared of change.\u00a0 As such,\u00a0 they disregard the facts that surround them.\u00a0 The world they live in is changing:\u00a0 climate, economics, demographics, politics, technology, medicine, and more!\u00a0 There can be a lot to try to learn, or at least accept.\u00a0 Some people see all this change as frightening.\u00a0 It’s overwhelming.\u00a0\u00a0 The answer becomes then, to resist it.\u00a0 For others, to fight it and reverse it.\u00a0\u00a0 Unfortunately, they’re hurting others by doing so.\u00a0 They’re impeding the growth of those in their environment by doing so.<\/p>\n Fear and anti-intellectualism go hand-in-hand from what I can see.\u00a0\u00a0 They’re making a stand, but this is different.\u00a0 They are trying to exist in a reality outside of our own, where credible sources are dismissed as fake simply because they don’t fit their narrative.\u00a0\u00a0 Multiple sources can all say the same thing, and they will all be wantonly dismissed with the same general buzzwords.\u00a0 How does everyone else, open to change and criticism, engage with an entire group of people who are fact-averse?\u00a0 They aren’t afraid to lash out at you, drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.\u00a0 To fight the good fight, overcome their fears, not go too far backwards in time, and keep in touch with reality all at the same time will be an arduous journey.\u00a0 We, however, cannot relent.\u00a0 We cannot let anti-intellectualism win more than it has already.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Of Fear and Anti-Intellectualism. – Essay (Other) – VA 2017 Fear.\u00a0\u00a0 It manifests differently in everyone, but common results include anxiety and anger.\u00a0\u00a0 Anxiety is an internal reaction, that often makes someone want to run away or stay hidden in place.\u00a0 It is the ‘flight’ half of the equation.\u00a0\u00a0 Anger is the more visible of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"Of Fear and Anti-Intellectualism.\r\n\r\nFear.\u00a0\u00a0 It manifests differently in everyone, but common results include anxiety and anger. \u00a0\u00a0Anxiety is an internal reaction, that often makes someone want to run away or stay hidden in place.\u00a0 It is the 'flight' half of the equation.\u00a0\u00a0 Anger is the more visible of the two, the 'fight' half, that we - the collective we - have to deal with.\u00a0 We've been dealing with it, but it isn't going away anytime soon.\u00a0 The more I talk to people, and the more I examine myself,\u00a0 I learn a lot of fear stems from ignorance.\u00a0 \u00a0Ignorance is not knowing something, and stupidity has more to do with one's ability to learn.\u00a0 It's important to draw the line between the two.\u00a0 \u00a0Someone who is genuinely stupid but has a good attitude can overcome many things.\u00a0 Someone who is ignorant, who has the aptitude to learn, but chooses not to is considerably more problematic.\u00a0 We have a great many who are not only willfully ignorant but are doing their best to ensure others cannot learn as well.\r\n\r\nWe now live in an age wherein anti-intellectualism is celebrated from segments of the population.\u00a0 From deep within their safe-place echo-chambers, they dismiss anything and everything that does not neatly fit within their narrative.\u00a0 Their beliefs and their identities are so intertwined that they must reject all non-conforming everything, including reality itself.\u00a0\u00a0 Facts no longer matter.\u00a0 People are now rallying behind statements such as \"alternative facts\" and have put weight behind ideas such as \"we can disagree with the facts.\"\u00a0 It was bad enough when news and entertainment were intermingled such that it became more difficult to discern between one and other, but to outright reject the difference between objective and subjective is dangerous.\r\n\r\nIssac Asimov once said \u201cAnti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that\u00a0'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.'<\/em>\u201d\u00a0 By erasing the line between objective and subjective, it emboldens the irrational to continue dismantling everything they don't believe in.\u00a0 Everything that doesn't fit neatly into their box becomes a target.\u00a0 Human rights?\u00a0 Undone.\u00a0 Education funding?\u00a0 Cut.\u00a0 Science?\u00a0 Ignored, censored, or deleted.\u00a0\u00a0 A government by faith alone is doomed to fail.\u00a0 Not only is it not representational of its people, but it is not founded on any sound principle.\r\n\r\nFear is not founded on any sound principle either.\u00a0 The more I talk to anti-intellectuals, the more I get fear from them.\u00a0\u00a0 I don't fully understand what all they're afraid of yet, as I do not share their fears.\u00a0\u00a0 Simply asking doesn't work,\u00a0 it often results in more anger because that's what they feel.\u00a0 They feel angry, they don't feel afraid.\u00a0 It's only the self-aware that realize they're afraid, and even then it's those willing to let go.\u00a0\u00a0 There is a lot of peer-pressure in some of these groups to never budge.\u00a0\u00a0 Change is weakness.\u00a0 In other terms, growth is weakness.\u00a0 They're trying to be frozen in time.\u00a0 Some are even trying to not only go backwards in time, but take us with them.\r\n\r\nThey're scared of change.\u00a0 As such,\u00a0 they disregard the facts that lie in front of them.\u00a0 The globe is changing:\u00a0 climate, economics, demographics, politics, technology, medicine, and more!\u00a0 There can be a lot to try to learn, or at least accept.\u00a0 Some people see all this change as frightening.\u00a0 It's overwhelming.\u00a0\u00a0 The answer becomes then, to resist it.\u00a0 For others, to fight it and reverse it.\u00a0\u00a0 Unfortunately, they're hurting others by doing so.\u00a0 They're impeding the growth of those in their environment by doing so.\r\n\r\nFear and anti-intellectualism go hand-in-hand from what I can see.\u00a0\u00a0 They're making a stand, but this is different.\u00a0 They are trying to exist in a reality outside of our own, where credible sources are dismissed as fake simply because they don't fit their narrative.\u00a0\u00a0 Multiple sources can all say the same thing, and they will all be wantonly dismissed with the same general buzzwords.\u00a0 How does everyone else, open to change and criticism, engage with an entire group of people who are fact-averse?\u00a0 They aren't afraid to lash out at you, drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.\u00a0 To fight the good fight, overcome their fears, not go too far backwards in time, and keep in touch with reality all at the same time will be an arduous journey.\r\n\r\nMonk Anchorwind\r\n\r\n26 Jan 2017","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[104],"tags":[267],"class_list":["post-26150","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-va","tag-267"],"yoast_head":"\n