(June 20, 2015 at 7:19 pm)Dystopia Wrote: In your opinion what causes this anti-intellectual culture? I'm curious - There are many countries in the world, some of them are the roughly the same size or bigger than the US (and with larger demographics) - There is, most likely, an historical/cultural cause.
I am not sure who you are asking.
I think the primary reason is religion. It is very antagonistic to critical thinking. Religion, in fact, depends on poor critical thinking for its survival. But that is not the only factor.
Before the dissolution of the Soviet Union, there was an existential angst about our future, which kept many policy makers interested in promoting science as a way of making sure that they did not get ahead of us in everything. For example, if you examine the history of Sputnik, the first satellite, it was the Soviets being ahead of us in space. That terrified policymakers, and so we poured massive amounts of money into science and technology. It was patriotic to study science, to keep us ahead of the Soviets. But we do not have that motive any longer with the breakup of the Soviet Union. So we do not have the same focus any longer. That might be why we canceled our Superconducting Super Collider.
There are also various corporate interests involved (which is mentioned in the article). Business depends on people buying things, not on them making good buying choices. If people are easier to sucker, that, at least in the short run, is good for many businesses.
And there are politicians who benefit from a lack of critical thinking. Some of our politicians would never be elected if their constituents were all intelligent, reasonable, and good at critical thinking.
I think in connection with that is the history of the Republican Party over the past few decades, becoming entangled with fundamentalist Christians, which has not done the country any favors. It is pushing us backwards, or trying to, and has had some successes in pushing us backwards. It has had a corrupting influence on our educational system, including subjects in science and sex education.
There are likely other factors involved.
"A wise man ... proportions his belief to the evidence."
— David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Section X, Part I.
