Anti intellectualism directed against science.

[timothyu]

Remember that when there is upheaval it is the intellects that are the first to be gotten rid of. Scientists are a commodity that survive and get spread around even after defeat in a war.

 

[durangodawood]

I think some people are simply offended that others know more than them.

 

[timothyu]

I think some people are simply offended that others know more than them.

Are not the ones that know more the ones willing to listen to others? Besides, intellect is not how much info a person can cram into their memory banks.

 

[durangodawood]

Are not the ones that know more the ones willing to listen to others? Besides, intellect is not how much info a person can cram into their memory banks.

Yes. Lots of smart people wasting their brains thanks to their ideological disposition against knowledge.

 

[Akita Suggagaki]

And the ironic thing is, that the more a people know, the more they realize how much they do not now.

When I was young I though I knew so much. I was not even aware of all realms of my ignorance.

I think that is true for all of us we are ignorant of our ignorance.

 

[OldWiseGuy]

I think some people are simply offended that others know more than them.

I run into that all the time.

 

[OldWiseGuy]

And the ironic thing is, that the more a people know, the more they realize how much they do not now.

When I was young I though I knew so much. I was not even aware of all realms of my ignorance.

I think that is true for all of us we are ignorant of our ignorance.

Sorta true, but with time we should be able to understand the important stuff. If so we need not be too concerned about what we don't know.

 

[timothyu]

I think that is true for all of us we are ignorant of our ignorance.

Will be interesting how the mindset of those of today's extreme movements will change in time, if indeed they do. Perhaps they will just go for a political pension.

 

[GOD Shines Forth!]

Scientists are a commodity that survive and get spread around even after defeat in a war.

No tyrant ever fears
his geologists or his engineers.
—Auden

 

[GOD Shines Forth!]

Why assume "intellect" necessarily correlates with correct thinking? It often is the opposite. Those "wise in their own eyes" are often blind and lead many into a ditch.

 

[sjastro]

I think some people are simply offended that others know more than them.

I think that is an accurate summation.

One of my earliest encounters of anti-intellectualism as @SelfSim can testify came from a most unexpected source, an amateur astronomy website.

The site had a science forum with a small core of participants.
I noticed there were frequent posts of either attacking the science or the participants so I decided to create a thread about hostility against science which effectively opened the floodgates.
The vitriol directed against the participants including myself on a large scale was surprising; not in the league of death threats or violence but still anti-intellectualism.

The theme which came out of these negative comments was accusations of elitism.
Apparently the discussion of topics which the main group were either unaware of or did not understand was considered offensive to them.

 

[timothyu]

Apparently the discussion of topics which the main group were either unaware of or did not understand was considered offensive to them.

Hence much of the problems we have seen on the streets and news for the past year. Being offended is the new celebrity status.

 

[durangodawood]

I think that is an accurate summation.

One of my earliest encounters of anti-intellectualism as @SelfSim can testify came from a most unexpected source, an amateur astronomy website.

The site had a science forum with a small core of participants.
I noticed there were frequent posts of either attacking the science or the participants so I decided to create a thread about hostility against science which effectively opened the floodgates.
The vitriol directed against the participants including myself on a large scale was surprising; not in the league of death threats or violence but still anti-intellectualism.

The theme which came out of these negative comments was accusations of elitism.
Apparently the discussion of topics which the main group were either unaware of or did not understand was considered offensive to them.

Well Ive seen some of your posts in this section, and they are a perfect test case of whether I personally am offended by people who know more than me.

 

[sjastro]

Hence much of the problems we have seen on the streets and news for the past year. Being offended is the new celebrity status.

A term which came out of the States a few years ago is the anti rationalist principle where having an opinion far outweighs any facts to back it.
So apparently expressing an opinion where you dislike someone because they know more than you do is perfectly valid.

Even on a more fundamental level we seem to have lost the ability of respectfully disagreeing with each other.
Of the Australian climate scientists subjected to death threats, her crime was to suggest we can reduce our carbon footprint by planting trees.

 

[SelfSim]

A term which came out of the States a few years ago is the anti rationalist principle where having an opinion far outweighs any facts to back it.
So apparently expressing an opinion where you dislike someone because they know more than you do is perfectly valid.

Why is expressing an opinion which has no facts backing it, so important?

Worse still, is expressing it, knowing it has no facts backing it!?

Undermining the system of looking for the facts then becomes the weapon of choice.

 

[SelfSim]

I can't help feel that the age-old quest of spending one's time on Earth attempting to accumulate wisdom, has simply fallen by the wayside(?)

 

[Halbhh]

Scientists are 100% guilty of ridiculing people who question them.

Suppose a Republican murdered someone they were arguing with, and then later in time (however long) another Republican also committed a murder in another dispute somewhere.

Question: could we then rightfully say:

"Republicans are 100% guilty of murdering people who disagree with them."

?

Would that be a righteous thing to say?

 

[Albion]

I noticed there were frequent posts of either attacking the science or the participants so I decided to create a thread about hostility against science which effectively opened the floodgates.
The vitriol directed against the participants including myself on a large scale was surprising; not in the league of death threats or violence but still anti-intellectualism.

I hear you, but the term ''anti-intellectualism'' on the part of materialists and self-styled science lovers is such hubris. The scientific community includes all sorts of "science deniers," if truth be told.

 

[SelfSim]

I hear you, but the term ''anti-intellectualism'' on the part of materialists and self-styled science lovers is such hubris. The scientific community includes all sorts of "science deniers," if truth be told.

Objectivity is what the scientific method distinguishes and that, in turn, is what distinguishes scientific thinking. If objectivity is removed and replaced with denial of it, then the person doing so, is not thinking scientifically.

 

[Albion]

Objectivity is what the scientific method distinguishes and that, in turn, is what distinguishes scientific thinking.

That would be the ideal, yes.

But humans, whether science-oriented or not, do not always exhibit objectivity.