Susan Jacoby's "The Age of American Unreason"
BB submitted this link in relation to a discussion on Evolution verses Intelligent Design, yet I fail to see the connection, for there is no mention of the subject in the Linked Page.
I sort of agree that there is often an air of "Public Ignorance" in our country, as well as "a Culture at odds with America's Heritage" and "with Modern Knowledge and Science", yet I would define "American's Heritage" as the Morality of the Founding Fathers, that was mostly based on their strong Belief in God and grounded in Christianity and would define "Modern Knowledge and Science" as ALL of science, including that which has been introduced by those who support Intelligent Design.
The "Anti-Intellectual Tendencies", as well as the "Anti-Rationalism" that this Link speaks of is just another way of describing what I have heard called "Post-Modernism", which among other things, involves a mistrust for both Science and also Objective Thought. The Subjective is respected more than the Objective, yet unfortunately, truth can not be found completely by just exploring a few examples from a few individual lives.
The description of TV and Videos that is made in the Linked Web Page reminds me of how I studied recently of how so many of the current action shows change from one screen to the next so rapidly that it has a Hypnotic Effect that has a tendency to shut the brain off, allowing very little room for the viewer to think rationally about what he or she is seeing on the screen.
I'm not sure what is meant by "Junk Thought" on Blogs, though not requiring students to obtain "a thorough grounding in American and World History, Science and Literature" is obviously a negative and "Disdain for Logic and Evidence" is a negative as well.
Yes, we have Poor Education and yes, we have "a lazy and credulous public, increasingly unwilling or unable to distinguish between fact and opinion". I even agree that we have an "Anti-Rational Government".
I was glad to read that Susan Jacoby describes "Dumbness" relating to both the Political Right and the Left, for I would agree with that.
I actually found the Linked Web Page, it's description of "The Age of American Unreason", of our "Descent into Intellectual Laziness" and of our "Flight from Reason" quite interesting and I was following Susan Jacob's ideas and even agreeing with them right up until the phrase "Anti-Rational Religious Fundamentalism" was mentioned. That came across to me as a False Accusation and a clear example of Stereo-Typing.
Interestingly, I agreed with all that I read, with the exception of one Stereo-Typing Phrase and I also do not see how this is relevant to the discussion of Evolution verses Intelligent Design. The subject is not at all mentioned in the Linked Page and in order to make it relevant, one would have to add another Stereo-Typing phrase implying that those who support Intelligent Design are guilty of all that is mentioned on this Linked Page and to that I would have to say that I do not agree with the accusation, but than again, the subject of Evolution verses Intelligent Design was not mentioned at all in the Linked Page.
Please take the time to read the discussion below my post Equations we Live By/Gen./Evolution v. Intelligent Design, as well as the others under the Label to the Right, "Science and Research".
