Anti-intellectualism Is Killing America

a reply to: Aazadan

I agree, the keyboard attached to my computer is like a very fancy, easy-flow typewriter. Although, that wasn't exactly my point.

a reply to: searcherfortruth


Pardon me for saying so but "isms" are killing America.

originally posted by: Ultralight
a reply to: searcherfortruth


Pardon me for saying so but "isms" are killing America.

I would hazard that it's schisms more than "isms".

a reply to: soulpowertothendegree

You can't really kick someone off of a thread because you disagree with them.

You can, however, claim it "went over their head" in order to circumvent a need to expound on your disagreement.

I think it leans toward leftie propaganda - how's that summary work fur yuh?

I feel that we can improve education by stepping outside of and examining religion, consumerism,and inequity for what it is. We can call the class Slavery 101.

Is love an intellectual concept?

Is fellowship an intellectual concept?

Is compassion an intellectual concept?

Those are the things we are lacking. I don't see how intellectualism will help us develop any of those things in the slightest.

There's an obvious subtext here, given the language being used. "Anti-intellectualism".

Can you see it?

a reply to: NthOther

Yes, It's intelligent to know we must help each other to maximize our experience as a species. We need to recognize what emotions do for us as a species. Understanding our evolved emotions will lessen the chance of them being detrimental.

Technically, the understanding of this makes you an intellectual.

The site is a form of social media. It is swayed sometimes by popularity ratings, star grabs, etc., similar to what you'd see on other the sites. With that you're going to have the element of ignorance, or what one may define as it(is it not subjective in some ways?).

a reply to: dreamingawake
I figured it's swayed by persuasive arguments. I thought stars were just a way to gauge what you're up against.

originally posted by: NthOther
Is love an intellectual concept?

Is fellowship an intellectual concept?

Is compassion an intellectual concept?

Yes, yes, and yes. What if compassion meant weakening the of society and ultimately dooming the entire species? How do we know that isn't the case? Because it has been studied and the effects are well known.

originally posted by: Aazadan

Yes, yes, and yes. What if compassion meant weakening the of society and ultimately dooming the entire species? How do we know that isn't the case? Because it has been studied and the effects are well known.

Well I suppose in any discussion of whether emotions are intellectual or not (which is different from simple, rational utilitarianism), we should probably define our terms before we proceed too much further, no?

So, define "love" for me.

originally posted by: NthOther
Is love an intellectual concept?

Is fellowship an intellectual concept?

Is compassion an intellectual concept?

Those are the things we are lacking. I don't see how intellectualism will help us develop any of those things in the slightest.

There's an obvious subtext here, given the language being used. "Anti-intellectualism".

Can you see it?

This suddenly help me understand a possible explanation for the hostility against intellectualization that I witnessed in certain groups of americans! Does it spring from a belief that intellect and emotion oppose each other?
That if you educate and inform yourself, you will lose your capacities for love, compassion, fellowship?

Curious idea. My observation in those cases was that their capacity for compassion, love and fellowship was restrained to a specific group of people, and hatred and hostility was dished out heavily to anyone not within their circle of friends.

Expansion of mind allows for expansion of heart.

a reply to: olaru12

Yes.
Thank you.
It helped quite a bit. I feel like an intellectual now.

originally posted by: angeldoll
a reply to: FormOfTheLord

That's always shocking to see. I believe those basic things are taught in like, 5th grade science. Do kids sleep through that class, or do they not have any retention?

Reminds me of the discussion on QVC between the host and a clothing designer about "what is the moon? Is it a star? No, I don't think it's a planet, is it? I guess it might be a planet. I don't think it's a sun. What is the moon?

These were adults.

I know right the problem is the decline of general intelligence amongst our peoples, its pretty sad but its true. People are pretty dumb.

Add stupid and racist together and you have a really dumb person there, lets not forget racism is pretty stupid to begin with. You must be a moron if your a racist no getting around it. . . .

a reply to: searcherfortruth

Holy crap! I've been saying this for awhile on ATS now. Far longer than this shooting has been in the news. Heck I authored at least one thread about it. This is REALLY what is killing America and it's a shame, because the ones that need to listen to it all think other, meaningless (or fake) things are killing America.

originally posted by: angeldoll
Our written language is going to hell also. I read somewhere that in another couple of decades we wouldn't recognize our written languages, as they are becoming more and more abbreviated into something like "text talk'. And think of it even going to pictures to express yourself. I mean, think emoticons! Sad, really.

As long as the people of the day understand what is being written how is that exactly sad? The Egyptians used pictures to express things. They seemed to get by fine for thousands of years. Though I likely think your prediction is an exaggeration. As much as text speak is taking over, traditional typing and grammar are still king.

Just curious for someone complaining about the death of our written language, what are different uses for their, there, and they're?

This suddenly help me understand a possible explanation for the hostility against intellectualization that I witnessed in certain groups of americans! Does it spring from a belief that intellect and emotion oppose each other?
That if you educate and inform yourself, you will lose your capacities for love, compassion, fellowship?

LOL I was actually waiting for someone to make that argument. I was prepared to state that emotions are as much a part of us as digestion. I'm pretty sure even sociopaths throw fits.

a reply to: Bluesma

While the focus of recent events is on the confederate flag and racism in general there is a deeper problem that exists, not only here in America, but across the planet Earth. Ignorance.

Intelligence is not lack of ignorance, being ignorant is not a lack of intelligence. I do think that arrogance plays a bigger role than the article or OP present to the picture, but I did not focus on it initially. Now, I think the inability to see another point of view is based on a lack of humility, too.

We are sometimes incapable of seeing through the rhetoric when it comes to polarizing issues what ever they may be.

Humility, arrogance, intelligence, ignorance....all go hand in hand. Being an intellectual does not provide for an escape without having humility, thereby creating arrogance and leads to ignorance.

As a prime example of ignorance this still amuses me:

youtu.be...

What's killing America (and the world) is our insatiable need to gratify our own egos.

We HAVE to feel "special" or "unique". There are simply so many people now on Earth that we've become lost in the herd. We then tell kids growing up that they're winners and can do anything and be famous -- then the real world hits. These kids find out they're just drones in a featureless mob, devoid of any uniqueness.

We fight back the only way we can, we dive INTO ourselves and gratify our egos. We create elaborate make-believe play lands for ourselves and fiercely defend our own personal realities. We become violent when someone else crashes our little party. We become callous and selfish to other people in order to stroke our own desires.

Instead of fighting back against the de-humanizing values that are being presented to us, we simply choose to stick our fingers in our ears and live in a fantasy. We allow ourselves to become consumers of meme-culture, picking and choosing that which makes us feel best about ourselves, meanwhile ignoring the realities of the world at-large.

THIS is killing the world. THIS is what is wrong with America. Quite frankly humans were not meant to live in such close proximity to other human beings. Sure, we can sustain 7 billion people on Earth with proper farming techniques, but it's to crowded for our own good. Humans as a species don't do well when we feel lost in the crowd.

The value of a human life is being diminished by our over population. We are literally standing on each other's heads, slashing at each other's throats, and climbing over one another to get ahead and matter in this world. It's really not a pretty picture.