Platt said: The quotes from Wiki used here are challenged on their sites. In the case of anti-intellectualism, its "neutrality is disputed." One would think an honest intellectual would include that caveat. But alas . . .
dmb says: Yea, any Wikipedia article that touches on controversial topics like politics will have such a caveat. I think it goes without saying because everybody already knows that. The question is, does the article on anti-intellectualism actually describe what we see and hear? Sure it does. It describes what anti-intellectuals say around here just about every day. That wikipedia page should have your picture on it. The article also supports the Pirsigian contention that fascism and other forms of social level authoritarianism are driven by anti-intellectualism above all. Oh yea, I forgot. You and Bo don't care what Pirsig thinks. He's only an expert on the MOQ and anti-intellectuals don't respect expertise. Nevermind. > > dmb quotes Wiki: > > > > An expert is someone widely recognized as a reliable source of technique or > > skill whose faculty for judging or deciding rightly, justly, or wisely is > > accorded authority and status by their peers or the public in a specific > > well-distinguished domain. An expert, more generally, is a person with > > extensive knowledge or ability based on research, experience, or occupation > > and in a particular area of study. Experts are called in for advice on their > > respective subject, but they do not always agree on the particulars of a > > field of study. An expert can be, by virtue of credential, training, > > education, profession, publication or experience, believed to have special > > knowledge of a subject beyond that of the average person, sufficient that > > others may officially (and legally) rely upon the individual's opinion. > > Historically, an expert was referred to as a sage (Sophos). The individual > > was usually a profound thinker distinguished for wisdom and sound judgment. > > Experts have a prolonged or intense experience through practice and > > education in a particular field. In specific fields, the definition of > > expert is well established by consensus and therefore it is not necessary > > for an individual to have a professional or academic qualification for them > > to be accepted as an expert. In this respect, a shepherd with 50 years of > > experience tending flocks would be widely recognized as having complete > > expertise in the use and training of sheep dogs and the care of sheep. > > Another example from computer science is that an expert system may be taught > > by a human and thereafter considered an expert, often outperforming human > > beings at particular tasks. In law, an expert witness must be recognized by > > argument and authority. > > Research in this area attempts to understand the relation between expert > > knowledge and exceptional performance in terms of cognitive structures and > > processes. The fundamental research endeavor is to describe what it is that > > experts know and how they use their knowledge to achieve performance that > > most people assume requires extreme or extraordinary ability. Studies have > > investigated the factors that enables experts to be fast and accurate.[1] > > > > > > Anti-intellectualism is the hostility towards and mistrust of intellect, > > intellectuals, and intellectual pursuits, usually expressed as the derision > > of education, philosophy, literature, art, and science, as impractical and > > contemptible. In public discourse, anti-intellectuals usually perceive and > > publicly present themselves as champions of the common folk — populists > > against political elitism and academic elitism — proposing that the educated > > are a social class detached from the quotidian concerns of the majority, and > > that they dominate political discourse and higher education. > > As a political adjective, anti-intellectual variously describes an > > education system emphasising minimal academic accomplishment, and a > > government who formulate public policy without the advice of academics and > > their scholarship. > > > > Dictators, and their dictatorship supporters, use anti-intellectualism to > > gain popular support, by accusing intellectuals of being a socially > > detached, politically-dangerous class who question the extant social norms, > > who dissent from established opinion, and who reject nationalism, hence they > > are unpatriotic, and thus subversive of the nation. Violent > > anti-intellectualism is common to the rise and rule of authoritarian > > political movements, such as Italian Fascism, Soviet Stalinism in Russia, > > Nazism in Germany, the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, and Iranian theocracy, en > > route to establishing the national totalitarianism. > > In the 20th century, intellectuals were systematically demoted or expelled > > from the power structures, and, occasionally, assassinated. In Argentina, > > the biochemist César Milstein reports that when the military usurped > > Argentine government via the 1962 coup d’État, they declared that “our > > countries would be put in order, as soon as all the intellectuals who were > > meddling in the region were expelled”. In Brazil, the educator Paulo Freire > > was banished for being ignorant, according to the organizers of the coup d’ > > État of the moment.[1] > > Extreme ideological dictatorships, such as the Khmer Rouge regime in > > Kampuchea (1975–79), killed potential opponents with more than elementary > > education. In achieving their Year Zero social engineering of Cambodia, they > > assassinated anyone suspected of “involvement in free-market activities”. > > The suspected Cambodian populace included professionals and almost every > > educated man and woman, city-dwellers, and people with connections to > > foreign governments. Doctrinally, the Maoist Khmer Rouge designated the > > farmers as the true proletariat, as the true representatives of the working > > class, hence the anti-intellectual purge. (cf. Great Proletarian Cultural > > Revolution, 1966–76) > > Governmental anti-intellectualism ranges from closing public libraries and > > public schools, to segregating intellectuals in an Ivory Tower ghetto, to > > official declarations that intellectuals tend to mental illness, thus > > facilitating psychiatric imprisonment, then scapegoating to divert popular > > discontent from the dictatorship (vide the USSR and Fascist Italy, cf. > > Antonio Gramsci). > > Moreover, anti-intellectualism is neither always violent, nor oppressive, > > because most any social group can exercise contempt for intellect, > > intellectualism, and education. To wit, the Uruguayan writer Jorge Majfud > > said that “this contempt, that arises, from a power installed in the social > > institutions, and from the inferiority complex of its actors, is not a > > property of ‘underdeveloped’ countries. In fact, it is always the critical > > intellectuals, writers, or artists who head the top-ten lists of ‘The Most > > Stupid of the Stupid’ in the country.” [2] > > > > > > > > _________________________________________________________________ > > The New Busy think 9 to 5 is a cute idea. Combine multiple calendars with > > Hotmail. > > > > http://www.windowslive.com/campaign/thenewbusy?tile=multicalendar&ocid=PID28326::T:WLMTAGL:ON:WL:en-US:WM_HMP:042010_5 > > Moq_Discuss mailing list > > Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. > > http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org > > Archives: > > http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ > > http://moq.org/md/archives.html > > > Moq_Discuss mailing list > Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. > http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org > Archives: > http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ > http://moq.org/md/archives.html _________________________________________________________________ Hotmail has tools for the New Busy. 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