Great article on the effects of American anti-intellectualism

[hifiguy]

from Psychology Today.

The Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs commissioned a civic education poll among public school students. A surprising 77% didn't know that George Washington was the first President; couldn't name Thomas Jefferson as the author of the Declaration of Independence; and only 2.8% of the students actually passed the citizenship test. Along similar lines, the Goldwater Institute of Phoenix did the same survey and only 3.5% of students passed the civics test;

According to the National Research Council report, only 28% of high school science teachers consistently follow the National Research Council guidelines on teaching evolution, and 13% of those teachers explicitly advocate creationism or "intelligent design;"

18% of Americans still believe that the sun revolves around the earth, according to a Gallup poll

We’re creating a world of dummies. Angry dummies who feel they have the right, the authority and the need not only to comment on everything, but to make sure their voice is heard above the rest, and to drag down any opposing views through personal attacks, loud repetition and confrontation.

Much more at https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/wired-success/201407/anti-intellectualism-and-the-dumbing-down-america

[Fumesucker]

1. tl;dr

[hifiguy]

3. Indeed.

[pampango]

5. It’s the dismissal of science ... replacement by self-righteousness, ignorance and

deliberate gullibility.

... the vast underlying foundations of anti-elite, anti-reason and anti-science have been infused into America’s political and social fabric. “There’s a pervasive suspicion of rights, privileges, knowledge and specialization,”

74% of Republicans in the U.S. Senate and 53% in the House of Representatives deny the validity of climate change despite the findings of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and every other significant scientific organization in the world;

We’re creating a world of dummies. Angry dummies who feel they have the right, the authority and the need not only to comment on everything, but to make sure their voice is heard above the rest, and to drag down any opposing views through personal attacks, loud repetition and confrontation.

Great article. Thanks for posting, hifiguy.

[hifiguy]

6. All of which are driven and reinforced

by the engine of fundy religion.

[Electric Monk]

7. Great article, indeed. 82 recs and counting

here http://www.democraticunderground.com/10026870838

[hifiguy]

8. Kick