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Rochester Insti\u00adtute of Tech\u00adnol\u00ado\u00adgy, via Wiki\u00adme\u00addia Com\u00admons<\/a><\/p>\n In 1980, sci\u00aden\u00adtist and writer Isaac Asi\u00admov argued in an essay<\/a> that \u201cthere is a cult of igno\u00adrance in the Unit\u00aded States, and there always has been.\u201d That year, the Repub\u00adli\u00adcan Par\u00adty stood at the dawn of the Rea\u00adgan Rev\u00ado\u00adlu\u00adtion<\/a>, which ini\u00adti\u00adat\u00aded a decades-long con\u00adser\u00adv\u00ada\u00adtive groundswell. Polit\u00adi\u00adcal strate\u00adgist Steve Schmidt (who has been regret\u00adful about choos\u00ading Sarah Palin<\/a> as John McCain\u2019s run\u00adning mate in 2008) once point\u00aded<\/a> to what he called \u201cintel\u00adlec\u00adtu\u00adal rot\u201d as a pri\u00adma\u00adry cul\u00adprit, and a cult-like devo\u00adtion to irra\u00adtional\u00adi\u00adty among a cer\u00adtain seg\u00adment of the elec\u00adtorate.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a famil\u00adiar con\u00adtention. There have been cri\u00adtiques of Amer\u00adi\u00adcan anti-intel\u00adlec\u00adtu\u00adal\u00adism since the country\u2019s found\u00ading, though whether or not that phe\u00adnom\u00ade\u00adnon has inten\u00adsi\u00adfied, as\u00a0Susan Jaco\u00adby alleged <\/a>in The Age of Amer\u00adi\u00adcan Unrea\u00adson<\/a>, may be a sub\u00adject of debate. Not all of the unrea\u00adson is par\u00adti\u00adsan, as fail\u00adures to chal\u00adlenge human- and AI-gen\u00ader\u00adat\u00aded mis\u00adin\u00adfor\u00adma\u00adtion in polit\u00adi\u00adcal news sources and social media out\u00adlets over recent years have shown. But \u201cthe strain of anti-intel\u00adlec\u00adtu\u00adal\u00adism,\u201d writes Asi\u00admov, \u201chas been a con\u00adstant thread wind\u00ading its way through our polit\u00adi\u00adcal and cul\u00adtur\u00adal life, nur\u00adtured by the false notion that democ\u00adra\u00adcy means that \u2018my igno\u00adrance is just as good as your knowl\u00adedge.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Asimov\u2019s pri\u00adma\u00adry exam\u00adples hap\u00adpen to come from the polit\u00adi\u00adcal world. How\u00adev\u00ader, he doesn\u2019t name con\u00adtem\u00adpo\u00adrary names but reach\u00ades back to take a swipe at Eisen\u00adhow\u00ader (\u201cwho invent\u00aded a ver\u00adsion of the Eng\u00adlish lan\u00adguage that was all his own\u201d) and George Wal\u00adlace<\/a>. Par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar\u00adly inter\u00adest\u00ading is Asimov\u2019s take on the \u201cslo\u00adgan on the part of the obscu\u00adran\u00adtists: \u2018Don\u2019t trust the experts!\u2019\u201d This lan\u00adguage, along with charges of \u201celit\u00adism,\u201d Asi\u00admov wry\u00adly notes, is so often used by peo\u00adple who are them\u00adselves experts and elites, \u201cfeel\u00ading guilty about hav\u00ading gone to school.\u201d So many of the Amer\u00adi\u00adcan polit\u00adi\u00adcal class\u2019 wounds are self-inflict\u00aded, he sug\u00adgests, but that\u2019s because they are behold\u00aden to a large\u00adly igno\u00adrant elec\u00adtorate:<\/p>\n To be sure, the aver\u00adage Amer\u00adi\u00adcan can sign his name more or less leg\u00adi\u00adbly, and can make out the sports headlines\u2014but how many nonelit\u00adist Amer\u00adi\u00adcans can, with\u00adout undue dif\u00adfi\u00adcul\u00adty, read as many as a thou\u00adsand con\u00adsec\u00adu\u00adtive words of small print, some of which may be tri\u00adsyl\u00adlab\u00adic?<\/p>\n Asimov\u2019s exam\u00adples are less than con\u00advinc\u00ading: road signs \u201csteadi\u00adly being replaced by lit\u00adtle pic\u00adtures to make them inter\u00adna\u00adtion\u00adal\u00adly leg\u00adi\u00adble\u201d has more\u00a0to do with lin\u00adguis\u00adtic diver\u00adsi\u00adty than illit\u00ader\u00ada\u00adcy, and accus\u00ading tele\u00advi\u00adsion com\u00admer\u00adcials of speak\u00ading their mes\u00adsages out loud instead of using print\u00aded text on the screen seems to fun\u00adda\u00admen\u00adtal\u00adly mis\u00adun\u00adder\u00adstand the nature of the medi\u00adum. Jaco\u00adby in her book-length study of the prob\u00adlem looks at edu\u00adca\u00adtion\u00adal pol\u00adi\u00adcy in the Unit\u00aded States, and the resis\u00adtance to nation\u00adal stan\u00addards that vir\u00adtu\u00adal\u00adly\u00a0ensures wide\u00adspread pock\u00adets of igno\u00adrance all over\u00a0the coun\u00adtry. Asimov\u2019s very short, pithy essay<\/a> has nei\u00adther the space nor the incli\u00adna\u00adtion to con\u00adduct such analy\u00adsis.<\/p>\n Instead he is con\u00adcerned with atti\u00adtudes. Not only are many Amer\u00adi\u00adcans bad\u00adly edu\u00adcat\u00aded, he writes, but the broad igno\u00adrance of the pop\u00adu\u00adla\u00adtion in mat\u00adters of \u201csci\u00adence\u2026 math\u00ade\u00admat\u00adics\u2026 eco\u00adnom\u00adics\u2026 for\u00adeign lan\u00adguages\u2026\u201d has as much to do with Amer\u00adi\u00adcans\u2019 unwill\u00ading\u00adness to read as their\u00a0inabil\u00adi\u00adty.<\/p>\n There are 200 mil\u00adlion Amer\u00adi\u00adcans who have inhab\u00adit\u00aded school\u00adrooms at some time in their lives and who will admit that they know how to read\u2026 but most decent peri\u00adod\u00adi\u00adcals believe they are doing amaz\u00ading\u00adly well if they have cir\u00adcu\u00adla\u00adtion of half a mil\u00adlion. It may be that only 1 per cent\u2014or less\u2014of Amer\u00adi\u00adcans make a stab at exer\u00adcis\u00ading their right to know. And if they try to do any\u00adthing on that basis they are quite like\u00adly to be accused of being elit\u00adists.<\/p>\n One might in some respects charge Asi\u00admov him\u00adself of elit\u00adism when he con\u00adcludes, \u201cWe can all be mem\u00adbers of the intel\u00adlec\u00adtu\u00adal elite.\u201d Such a blithe\u00adly opti\u00admistic state\u00adment ignores the ways in which eco\u00adnom\u00adic elites active\u00adly manip\u00adu\u00adlate edu\u00adca\u00adtion pol\u00adi\u00adcy to suit their inter\u00adests, crip\u00adple edu\u00adca\u00adtion fund\u00ading, and oppose efforts at free or low cost high\u00ader edu\u00adca\u00adtion. Many efforts at spread\u00ading knowledge\u2014like the Chau\u00adtauquas<\/a> of the ear\u00adly 20th cen\u00adtu\u00adry, the edu\u00adca\u00adtion\u00adal radio pro\u00adgrams of the 40s and 50s, and the pub\u00adlic tele\u00advi\u00adsion rev\u00ado\u00adlu\u00adtion of the 70s and 80s\u2014have been ad hoc and near\u00adly always imper\u00adiled by fund\u00ading crises and the designs of prof\u00adi\u00adteers.<\/p>\n Nonethe\u00adless, the wide\u00adspread (though hard\u00adly uni\u00adver\u00adsal<\/a>) avail\u00adabil\u00adi\u00adty of free resources on the inter\u00adnet has made self-edu\u00adca\u00adtion a real\u00adi\u00adty for many peo\u00adple, and cer\u00adtain\u00adly for most Amer\u00adi\u00adcans. But per\u00adhaps not even Isaac Asi\u00admov could have fore\u00adseen the bit\u00adter polar\u00adiza\u00adtion and dis\u00adin\u00adfor\u00adma\u00adtion cam\u00adpaigns that tech\u00adnol\u00ado\u00adgy has also enabled. Need\u00adless to say, \u201cA Cult of Igno\u00adrance<\/a>\u201d was not one of Asimov\u2019s most pop\u00adu\u00adlar pieces of writ\u00ading. First pub\u00adlished on Jan\u00adu\u00adary 21, 1980 in Newsweek, the short essay has nev\u00ader been reprint\u00aded in any of Asimov\u2019s col\u00adlec\u00adtions.<\/p>\n Note: An ear\u00adli\u00ader ver\u00adsion of this post appeared on our site in 2016.<\/p>\n Relat\u00aded Con\u00adtent:<\/p>\n Isaac Asi\u00admov Reviews George Orwell\u2019s\u00a0Nine\u00adteen Eighty-Four\u00a0and Calls It \u201cNot Sci\u00adence Fic\u00adtion, But a Dis\u00adtort\u00aded Nos\u00adtal\u00adgia for a Past that Nev\u00ader Was\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n Isaac Asi\u00admov Pre\u00addicts the Future on\u00a0The David Let\u00adter\u00adman Show\u00a0(1980)<\/a><\/p>\n