America is slowly “dumbing down”, according to Psychology Today, due to a rising and devastating movement of anti- intellectualism in the American culture. It rejects matters of science, art, and humanities because of superiority, ignorance, and just from being naïve to situations. Anti –intellectualism is when a person disregards intellect and reason in solving viable situations and understanding the reality of the situation; but, instead uses action and emotions to solve them. Now, this is not saying that those who are uneducated and unintelligent are classified as anti-intellectualist; even those who are educated and judicious are subjective. It is said best by David Niose, “Social dysfunction can be traced to the abandonment of reason.” …show more content…
In Niose’s article, “Anti-Intellectualism Is Killing America”, he makes a great deal of assumptions as to why America is diminishing. He makes assumptions based on America embracing and reverencing ignorance to fundamentalist religion to corporate influences and interests being the sources to this movement of anti-intellectualism. In the article Niose appeals to his reader’s ethos by introducing the tragedy last month in Charleston, North Carolina, where a young Caucasian male named Dylann Roof (also known as the “Charleston shooter”), used race to justify his hatred for African- Americans that lead him to act out a mass murder. On June 17, 2015, Roof opened fire in a historic black church killing nine of its members, including the pastor. This happened after many other incidences that are unjustifiable being justified by ignorance like the Trayvon Martin case to the Freddy Gray tragedy to the Baltimore rioting to the ongoing police brutality that are examples of a devastating American culture that is influence by superiority and ignorance. Niose inferred, “Whatever his IQ, to some extent he is a product of a culture driven by fear and emotion, not rational thinking, and his actions reflect the paranoid mentality of one who fails to grasp basic notions of what it means to be human.” Roof being plagued by the notion that racism, gun violence, and lack of empathy rooted from American culture and history is acceptable. Roof failed to reach out and produce his own thoughts and beliefs on African-Americans possibly resulting from his upbringing and influences, lack of interaction with black people, or knowledge of their culture prohibiting rational thinking. Because America is far from progressing as a successful country due to its non-conforming outdated mindset, allowing a repeating saga of social dysfunction and destruction to continue to consume it. In addition, in the article, Niose states, “What Americans rarely acknowledge is that many of their social problems are rooted in the rejection of critical thinking or, conversely, the glorification of the emotional and irrational.
“, he uses logos to appeal to his readers. He goes on to say how Americans over confidence in their country caused them to believe that they are superior to the rest of the world and that America established and achieved the notion of freedom, making our lives to be superior and better than everywhere else in the world. Then, he pulls the rug under the readers feet by saying well this is not true. He cites multiple sources that suggest otherwise. For instance, America being placed as sixteenth on the international quality of life ranking, America’s murder ,other violent crime, and incarceration rates greater than most of the cultivated world. While there education and technical literacy is so low it’s humiliating. Some Americans having trouble really critically thinking when it comes to most of the social issues and act irrationally with no justification of their actions. For instance, after justice did not prevail at first during the Freddie Gray case in Baltimore and other following altercations, many young African Americans began to riot, loot, and destroy their own community. Due to the lack of education provided to their community to give them the tools and ability to think rationally, they let their emotions and animalistic nature to …show more content…
take a hold of their judgement. This was the only way they felt could grab the attention of not only their country but the world to gain justice despite the risk. This is still an example of, anti-intellectualism because the ignorance of those people who took part in the crimes, did not think critically but in a matter that the media portray them on an everyday basis a lifestyle in bedded in them to act irrationally. Niose goes on maintaining references that American schools false claims of sustaining conventional values, yet sidestep concrete facts when addressing sex education, which is why we have the highest teen pregnancy rates. However, due too many other factors as to why teen pregnancy is high, such as lack of medical assistance for contraception, lifestyle, or just lack of values. Niose use a mix of appeals, ethos and logos to put blame on the fundamentalist religion for fostering American anti-intellectualism to endure and immense. With old-fashion biblical belief conflicting with more free-minded modern beliefs on certain matters it prevents evolution of something potentially greater. As he continues on a minor rampage of the beliefs of fundamentalist religion conflicting with the scientific community. Because of these conflicts of interest a lot is being overlooked like human-caused climate change. Due to the denial of this climate change based on scientific studies by the anti-intellectual fundamentalist and their corporate “bedfellows”, gain domination of American society. Allowing democracy to become something foreign as culture is overthrown by the government, media, and big corporations to control society. Some may find Niose assumption of the idea that America’s abandonment of reason is a result of social dysfunction to be invalid. Others like Ravi Chandra M.D., believe self-centeredness is America’s flaw. “A lack of empathy is at the root of our ills”, in words of Chandra, stated in his article “No Self-Centeredness id Killing America”, also had some validity. With Racism, sexism, homophobia, and religious hatred still not being eradicated from society, it still allows valuing one group and perspective over another group’s rights and beliefs. Not being capable to empathize with others in society’s issues only permits prejudice and violent acts to take place with no remorse or precautions to prevent them. If people put themselves in other in other people shoes, it would be easier to really evaluate issues better and give different outlooks. Instead many are selfish and blinded by their own beliefs, as well as social media, religion, and politics. Having empathy is the first step to curing anti-intellectualism, it helps people sympathize to acknowledge different aspects of an issue. However, Niose still make many valid point backing up his thesis.
He states in his other article, “Fighting Back Against Anti-Intellectualism”, that we should realize that reason alone will not save humanity. Niose states, “ Rational thinking can be applied to any situation --- moral or immortal --- and this is why values are also critical in combating anti-intellectualism and promoting progressive, human-centered public policy… ,the best modern values are rooted not in ancient texts, but in human experience, accumulated knowledge, and natural human altruistic inclinations.” He claims that, if we take it upon ourselves to set our own values to make more rational decision based on our own experience, knowledge, and noble individual view on situation we will be less likely to fall into the trend of
anti-intellectualism. To conclude this argument, Niose made a valid argument; however, some of his assumptions could be made to be invalid and say it not so much of anti-intellectualism being the problem, but being self-centered is the problem. Anti-intellectualism causes social dysfunction in any country. The absence of having an open- mind, being able to empathize, and think critically could be anyone’s down fall. If ideas from different points of views cannot be introduced or even acknowledge in a society, a lot of social issue will not be address in the right manner and leads to chaos in many forms. People are products of their environment, being influenced by religion, corporate interest, the media, the government, even family values. Being stuck with single idea and not questioning them or gain knowledge of different perspectives of culture or issues only neglects logic when repairing society.
Through our class discussions of education we came across this quote by Joseph Sobran, an American journalist and writer who spent a great amount of his career working for the National Review Magazine, "In 100 years we have gone from teaching Latin and Greek in high school to teaching Remedial English in college." When asked to critically think about the meaning of this quote I concluded that our educational standards have been lowered over the years and that students in America are not as intelligent as they once were in previous years. These two thoughts brought me to the questions, what does it mean to be educated or intelligent and who gets to decide. When reflecting emotionally on how this quote made me feel I realized it made me feel
Fridman employs a values based premise that states that America’s insignificance towards education creates degrading phrases for the intellectual through “There is something wrong with the system of values in a society that only has derogatory terms like nerd and geek for the intellectually curious and academically serious” (P.1). He expresses that American society’s values, which degrades education, results in demeaning terms to address intelligence which is wrong since intellectuals don’t deserve to be classified negatively for their efforts in studying. He expresses that educated people being offensively labeled due to American society’s values of minoring education is wrong, in order for readers of the New York Times to appreciate intellectuals since their success in studying is not worth being degraded due to it being in the field of education. Next, he utilizes a sociological base premise that conveys America's culture of supporting non education through “For America’s sake, the anti-intellectual values that pervade our society must be fought” (P.6.). This indicates the culture of America is wrong since promoting uneducated citizens regards America as a incompetent country that has unqualified leadership due to unscholarly decisions. Fridman states that American culture advocating unintelligence is wrong in order for readers of the New York Times to appreciate the intellectuals since they
School is a frightening place. It is broken down into multiple social ranks, and many children find themselves at the bottom. With children trying to work their way to the top of the food chain, the actual learning portion is either set aside or forgotten altogether. In Grant Penrod’s essay, Anti-Intellectualism: Why We Hate the Smart Kids, he explains how modern children are growing to dislike intellectual children. The varying social ranks teach children to ignore low grades and try to be popular in school. Anti-Intellectualism is a trend which is becoming increasingly popular throughout the world. People who only strive to be popular tend to tease intellectuals, but this is not half of the story. If the only goal children have in school
America is a façade hidden behind its notorious past, with an even more troubling present. The land of the free, home of the brave, and one nation claimed to be united under the presence of an omnipotent power, but is it really? America profits off of the so-called dream that is sold to the hopeful and broken. This nation has been riddled with violence, persecution, hatred, and a false sense of togetherness. Racism was not the beginning, it was the ending result of a power struggle between those who wanted control and those who had it. The systematic enslavement and dehumanization of blacks resulted in the concept of a racial caste division, creating the idea of us vs. them (Wacquant, 2002). The Jim Crow laws, prisons, and the creation of ghettos
If it was not apparent enough that America’s education system is failing, Michael Moore’s “Idiot Nation” openly explains to us about the truth. America, for being the richest country, is behind in the educational standpoint. America needs to rethink their standards when it comes to education. America is more focused on corporate earning than educating our youth. The author of “Idiot Nation” makes the reader think about how America is viewed in the world. The purpose of Michael Moore’s essay is to point out what is wrong with this nation and also give the reader the motivation to actually do something about the situation at hand. Moore is trying to make readers aware of where we send our children. The author is trying to shock readers with the facts to do something to improve the American education system.
There is a “fear of being unorthodox…rooted in the American teacher’s soul” (Burgess 237). Burgess stresses the prohibition of an American teacher’s competence to instruct students using any type of experimental approach other than the standardized design. In consequence, America is unable to breed eccentric geniuses and has no capacity to create a burning desire to learn within their students. The reason this dilemma has been continuing for so long is because America has been blinded by their previous accomplishments, such as the landing on the moon. On behalf of their successful progressive past, the American people are in denial of how poor the education system is now and have a state of mind that the nation is still advancing just as it was decades ago when it is in fact, the exact
Fridman’s argument is extremely convincing in the proving his point through the use of drawing comparisons and juxtaposing them, adding a tone shift, and adding rhetorical questions that include anaphora to help emphasize his point in the passage. Leonid Fridman in “America Needs Its Nerds” reflects American ideological thinking in a harsh indifferent way. With the use of various rhetorical devices Leonid Fridman successfully develops his argument that for America’s sake, anti- intellectual values must be fought, and the need for America to reestablish its value system to remain a world- class power.
The themes that are addressed in the novel, including the psychological effects of racism on Black people and the denial of white people to address the issue of race reinforce the idea that psychological inferiority, just like the white and Black identity, are creations that perpetuate a society that will benefit one group and work to the destroy the other. Without the moral consciousness and accountability of the rulers of America’s society, the relationship of African Americans to the United States will continue to be spiritually, psychologically, and physically
Martin Luther King said “he had a dream that one day whites and black will go to the same school”. Martin Luther King was all about freedom for America. In the video American Dream it said “Martin Luther King was shot and killed tonight”. A white man killed him because he wanted human right for everybody he wanted everybody to be equal. Back in the early 19th century blacks and whites were separated and not treated equal as whites. Black was not as free as white and Martin Luther King wanted all men to be Equal. “Oxygen” offers an un-ironic endorsement of the American dream, saluting unending possibility and upward mobility” (Farber). The meaning of this is America is not as free as it seems. Human rights are getting violated each and everyday. One thing that seems very unfair to human rights is the death penalty. Electrocution is not the solution it’s not right, the government should not take a person 's life based on what they have done.” At least 4.1% of all defendants sentenced to death in the US in the modern era are innocent” (HRV). Police brutality is getting worst, innocent people are dying everyday because of the harsh like thing police do, they feel like they can get away with it.”500 innocent Americans are murdered by police every year”(HRV). Police have also used tear gas against people without
Insisting that the American people have brought on these accomplishments appeals to the feeling of patriotism in the reader, who is more than likely American. Going back to the Mexican-American War, Thoreau said “The government itself, which is only the mode which the people have chosen to execute their will, is equally liable to be abused and perverted before people can act through it. Witness the present Mexican war, the work of comparatively a few individuals using the government as their tool”(221). This quote from his short story appeals to the readers emotion...
After a close analysis of “America” by Tony Hoagland, the poem warns and points out the problems with our consumerism. Hoagland uses metaphors and imagery to describe the actions of American, while throwing in counteracting themes. And uses thoughts and dreams to bring in metaphors that complex the poem.
Why street smart students are considered anti intellectual in academic area? In the article “Hidden Intellectualism” by Gerald Graff, he accounts the idea that street smart students are way more smarted than book smarts. He explains that street smart student will be able to solve an issue much faster than book smart because of his/her previous experience. According to author, the problems with considering street smarts as anti intellectual are they are actually much smarter that book smart students, they don’t equal opportunity , and schools along with colleges never challenge their mind get them to succeed in academic work.
Jack Frost explores this in his poem “The Road Not Taken” when he explains he “took the other, as just as fair... [although people] had worn them really about the same” (736). In America their are so many opportunities for people to explore that there is not really on that is perceived as greater than another. All the paths that are available for people to take are and there is not one particular one that is left alone. In “The Souls of Black Folk” by W.E.B Du Bois he feels that America is “a world which yields him no true self-consciousness, but only lets him see himself through the revolution of the other world” (534). In America people are judged by the opportunities that they take and the decisions that they make. People really see themselves through how other people around them perceive them. Du Bois sees this as a bad thing but it can be looked at either way because it allows people to know how those around them
In “Paradox and Dream”, John Steinbeck creates a negative attitude towards American people and the ideals they have. He uses paradoxes to show how Americans are unappeased and frustrated with many things, they are only focused on their own opinions and are intemperate, and lastly Americans believe in these fables about themselves that are not always true. Those who read “Paradox and Dream” need to realize that sometimes people take things for granted. They also have to notice the actions that they take in order for them to be on top, which is not right.
We learn that although he did work hard for his earnings he worked hard in a corrupt manor, taking place in illegal activities. In A Lesson Before Dying, we learn of a black man found guilty before being proven guilty only because of the color of his skin. The man accused struggles internally but eventually comes to peace with his struggles. In The Declaration of Independence, we learn how America came together to fight the Crown, to break free from the shackles placed on us by the British which did not allow us to move past and thrive, in order to become the great nation we longed to be. In these pieces of American literature we see glimpses of what being American really means. Being American means that you accept your past and learn from it, that hard work can lead to living your dreams, that with our unalienable rights we can stand up to anything! But… it also means that there will be battles with temptation of doing wrong in order to reach your goal faster, that our past is not something that is easily accepted and can glide its way into your future, that there will be endless trials and tribulations in order to have our goal within