Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.'”
— I. Asimov Newsweek (1980), “A Cult of Ignorance.”
I wish I could say that I was surprised about the recent survey about the Republican view of universities. I would submit to you that America has never embraced structured education and scientific discovery as an end in itself — not ever. It was never a facet of personal development essential for social status or prestige, and it was never an American value.
In one way this reflects our greatest strength — or at least, the principles we were founded on. You could come to America with forty cents in your pocket, in rags, off the boat, have nothing, and make something of yourself. It was a step away from the caste system and class-locking that happened across the pond and in Eastern Europe. Being self-taught and good at your particular trade was valued. No genetic lottery in the form of aristocracy’s benefits needed for the vast majority of Americans.
So America has never valued science and liberal arts as ends in themselves, and in fact they are somewhat reminiscent of Europe, and geez, we don’t like Europe, dontcha know. It’s like the essence of the Enlightenment missed us. I believe the ONLY reason we had a burst of technology and enlightenment in the last several decades was because we had a competitor and an enemy — first the Nazis, and then the USSR. Without an enemy we don’t bother to pursue scientific advancement. But give us an enemy and that’s where we really shine.
This kind of approach to science and critical thinking can’t continue. In an article in Science, professor Jon Miller writes about the poor acceptance of evolution in the United States and attributes it to Fundamentalism and the politicization of science. This article was written in 2007 and the lack of enthusiasm for non-sectarian learning has only gotten worse. Arguments about health (especially POCs’ and women’s) are routinely politicized and scientifically based arguments do not move the needle on people’s beliefs because they are coming from “elitists” and non-Biblical types.
The problem now is that the world is becoming progressively more interconnected, dependent on technology, and complex. Critical thinking about global issues is now no longer an optional skill. You used to be able to be a robber baron and uneducated (Rockefeller) or a industrial pioneer with no education, absolutely no culture and flaming anti-Semitism (like Ford) and do really well for yourself. These were “Real Americans” and are examples of why lots of current real Americans feel that they are ‘temporarily embarrassed millionaires’ and there isn’t any need for any elitist claptrap. Now one needs to navigate fake news, propaganda streaming at you at a firehose rate, bots, scientific principles vs pseudoscience, health data, and many other situations in which one needs to understand spin vs. objective reality.
Need evidence that we need to be at war (cold or hot) to innovate? Look how little we care about climate change. There’s no competition to be had in attempting to attack the threat on a global level; there’s only cooperation. We don’t know how to cooperate, only compete. I suppose you can argue that it’s capitalism woven into our DNA. But for whatever reason, science and liberal arts have no value overall unless it’s getting us something...monetary.
And with the attempt to bring us back to the Gilded Age is the view of science and people who practice it as witches...or at least in this case genuinely untrustworthy elitists who don’t understand ‘real America.’ In a dataset I processed as part of graduate study, there was a question that examined people’s perceptions of scientists. Nearly 75% of those asked answered the following question in the “Agree or Strongly Agree” category: “Scientists have knowledge that makes them dangerous.”
International cooperation on global issues of climate, health inequity, and economics is the way of the future. I am not sure we can uproot ourselves from our base of competitiveness, laissez-faire capitalism, and Puritan roots to get with the new program, even if it means international isolation and our ultimate destruction:
I wish that I could say I was optimistic about the human race. I love us all, but we are so stupid and shortsighted that I wonder if we can lift our eyes to the world about us long enough not to commit suicide. — I. Asimov