There is an intellectual society somewhere? Please tell me where! Our society is so anti-intellectual it is scary. I blame this on the dumbing down of the American curriculum (K-College).
Malcolm McCallum On Sun, Dec 5, 2010 at 6:05 PM, Wayne Tyson <[email protected]> wrote: > Honorable Forum: > > In a recent post, the author expressed concern about our anti-intellectual > society--". . . our anti-intellectual society would find it very difficult to > appreciate . . ." > > There can be little doubt that our society is replete with > anti-intellectualism. Ecology and ecologists (ecology, in particular, has > gotten pretty bad treatment from popular culture, as "eco-" has become a > prefix for almost everthing, from selling soap to weight-loss nostrums and > cosmetics, ad nauseam) as well as other scientists, not to mention other > academicians, scholars, and those who dare to advance questions about > cultural norms or differ from common presumption, are derided by those who > consider anyone who ventures beyond the bounds of "popular culture," whatever > that is, to be effete intellectual snobs. This phenomenon affects elections, > and ultimately, funding for intellectual activity. To paraphrase Rodney > What's-his-name, "I[ntellectuals] don't get no [appreciation]." > > In difficult times especially, competition increases for scarcer and scarcer > funds, and support for intellectuals, scientists in particular, seems to > decline, even in relative terms, as the pork gets sliced thinner and thinner. > Beyond howling in the wilderness, is there anything anyone can do about this? > > Anti-intellectuals, by definition, are not only unlikely to do anything > except make the situation worse. That leaves, I suggest, intellectuals. If > that's the case, the choices are to take action or to take no action. If > ecologists want to take action, what should that action be? > > I have a suggestion as to form. If every concerned intellectual on this > list--say 10,000--met with four other intellectuals and listed five actions, > and each of those five met with an additional four, the list would grow > impressively large very quickly. A list of potential actions could then be > assembled and prioritized by frequency. > > Or any more efficient alternative? > > WT > -- Malcolm L. McCallum Managing Editor, Herpetological Conservation and Biology "Peer pressure is designed to contain anyone with a sense of drive" - Allan Nation 1880's: "There's lots of good fish in the sea" W.S. Gilbert 1990's: Many fish stocks depleted due to overfishing, habitat loss, and pollution. 2000: Marine reserves, ecosystem restoration, and pollution reduction MAY help restore populations. 2022: Soylent Green is People! Confidentiality Notice: This e-mail message, including any attachments, is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply e-mail and destroy all copies of the original message.
