Anti-Intellectualism

How often have you asked yourself what the meaning of your life is? If you have asked yourself, what answer did you come up with?
My own answer is this: The purpose of my life is now twofold. First, I want to make the love of my life as happy as possible. Second, I want to accumulate as much knowledge as possible and pass it on to the generations that follow.
Look around you. How many people do you know who actually espouse that second purpose? If your answer to that question is a lot of people, or everyone you know, then you are either highly unusual or simply lying to yourself.
I say that because it should be readily apparent to any intelligent reader that we live in a highly anti-intellectual society. Americans consistently shun the acquisition of new knowledge, and if you point this out to anyone, then you are labeled either arrogant or
un-American. Americans prefer complacency to inquiry. This is probably the second most significant problem confronting American society today, following the basic lack of compassion that I pointed out in a previous entry.
Religious insulation is a major contributor to this problem. Ask yourself another question, what is religious fundamentalism except for the triumph of anti-intellectualism? The existence of those who subscribe to the theory of creationism should provide enough proof to make that question rhetorical.
Now think for a moment of what American life would be like if every citizen made it a point to gain as much knowledge as possible. Present this challenge to the average American and the most common objection will be, I don’t have the time. I’m sorry, but that excuse just doesn’t fly anymore. This is the 21st century. The world’s knowledge is at your fingertips. People spend a lot of time online, and many people complain about Blackberry addiction. If people re-allocated even 10% of the time they spend on their Facebook or Twitter page to the acquisition of new knowledge, there would be an explosion of new, much needed, intelligent discussion in this country.
I see examples all the time in the media of people who have been “economically displaced.” They have been left behind by the economy because of their lack of knowledge. They are hanging on to a bygone version of the American dream like buggy whip manufacturers.
That is mass insanity. The grip of complacency is a huge contributor to the economic decline of this country and needs to be broken yesterday. In addition, if you are going to fool yourself and believe that anti-intellectualism hasn’t also contributed to the rising moral relativity in this country then you are welcome to your illusion, but you are part of the problem and not the solution, and you bear the responsibility for that mistaken belief.