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Anti-intellectualism Is Killing America | Psychology Today


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Anti-intellectualism Is Killing America | Psychology Today

 

 

In a country where a sitting congressman told a crowd that evolution and the Big Bang are “lies straight from the pit of hell,”   (link is external) where the chairman of a Senate environmental panel brought a snowball(link is external) into the chamber as evidence that climate change is a hoax, where almost one in three citizens can’t name the vice president(link is external), it is beyond dispute that critical thinking has been abandoned as a cultural value. Our failure as a society to connect the dots, to see that such anti-intellectualism comes with a huge price, could eventually be our downfall.

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http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2015/06/30/arkansas-state-senator-the-majority-grants-the-minority-their-rights-by-choice/

 

 

 

State Senator thinks those in the minority get to have rights based on the whims of the majority. As if rights are something politicians should vote on. It’s a contradiction and just flat-out awful thing for an elected official to say (which is why it’s no surprise that Rapert is a Republican).

 

lXMxQ2i.png

 

An actual elected Senator. Wow.

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It's amazing how movies like idiotacracy pretty much hit the nail on the head.

We have become a society that rejects true science. I think part of that is the fault of scientists who have become more like tools for lobbiests.

Some have found they can manipulate data anyway they see fit....there are alot of scientists that fight for an agenda instead of knowledge and ways of advancing a civilization.

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It's amazing how movies like idiotacracy pretty much hit the nail on the head.

We have become a society that rejects true science. I think part of that is the fault of scientists who have become more like tools for lobbiests.

Some have found they can manipulate data anyway they see fit....there are alot of scientists that fight for an agenda instead of knowledge and ways of advancing a civilization.

The scientific community is fairly large. You will have a few bad apples but for the most part it seems to be functioning how it was designed.

But really any kind of large scale data fudging is nearly impossible in the community without getting caught. You're talking about a field where there is cooperation and data exchange at a global level.

Sentiments like yours are a huge reason why we actually do have anti intellectual movements across various issues. Read through an anti vaccination forum and the posts are chalk full of "scientists manipulate data!!!" conspiracies. These arguments completely fail to take into account how the scientific process works.

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We have become a society that rejects true science. I think part of that is the fault of scientists who have become more like tools for lobbiests.

Some have found they can manipulate data anyway they see fit....there are alot of scientists that fight for an agenda instead of knowledge and ways of advancing a civilization.

 

If you aren't talking about climate science denial, consider yourself part of the problem. 

 

How climate change deniers got it right — but very wrong | MSNBC

 

 

t turns out the climate change deniers were right: There isn’t 97% agreement among climate scientists. The real figure? It’s not lower, but actually higher.

The scientific “consensus” on climate change has gotten stronger, surging past the famous — and controversial — figure of 97% to more than 99.9%, according to a new study reviewed by msnbc. 

 

James L. Powell, director of the National Physical Sciences Consortium, reviewed more than 24,000 peer-reviewed papers on global warming published in 2013 and 2014. Only five reject the reality of rising temperatures or the fact that human emissions are the cause, he found.

 

“It’s now a ruling paradigm, as much an accepted fact in climate science as plate tectonics is in geology and evolution is in biology,” he told msnbc. “It’s 99.9% plus.”

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Sentiments like yours are a huge reason why we actually do have anti intellectual movements across various issues. Read through an anti vaccination forum and the posts are chalk full of "scientists manipulate data!!!" conspiracies. These arguments completely fail to take into account how the scientific process works.

Kinda disagree. It's people like the anti-vaxxers that I am talking about. Manipulating data is much easier to do then you think. When I worked in labs, I attended alot of seminars on it given by investigators. Took then over a decade to catch some people who manipulated environmental data.

I'm not a conspiracy theorist at all. I just don't turn a blind eye to it. As a scientist I have learned to not just reject either sides argument. I go into it completely open minded, read the data both sides present and draw my own conclusion. But then I don't write that conclusion in stone...I know that my conclusion may be incorrect and adjust it based off any new data presented.

If you aren't talking about climate science denial, consider yourself part of the problem.

How climate change deniers got it right — but very wrong | MSNBC

Lol I'm not talking about any one particular thing. I think you by assuming things and ALWAYS showing political agenda are part of the problem.

Me...I have zero agenda

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Kinda disagree. It's people like the anti-vaxxers that I am talking about. Manipulating data is much easier to do then you think. When I worked in labs, I attended alot of seminars on it given by investigators. Took then over a decade to catch some people who manipulated environmental data.

I'm not a conspiracy theorist at all. I just don't turn a blind eye to it. As a scientist I have learned to not just reject either sides argument. I go into it completely open minded, read the data both sides present and draw my own conclusion. But then I don't write that conclusion in stone...I know that my conclusion may be incorrect and adjust it based off any new data presented.

I am not aware of any large scale movement in the sciences where data is being manipulated for special interests. Care to point some out? The closest you can probably find is scientists hired by the fossil fuel industry but even they mostly stick to the relevant data but instead choose to offer laughably wrong interpretations of it.

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Critical thinking has been removed.

 

Look at the way some stories develop in the media, and how many people latch on to absurd narratives (to the point that the absurd narrative never goes away because it took such a strangle hold.)

 

In the larger picture, we have a political environment turned toxic mostly because of (in my opinion) the lack of ability to think critically about things.

 

Hypocrisy would be a close second on the list for me.

 

edit: and it's not just one party. "the left" does it just as well as "the right".

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I'm not really sure where you're going with that.

Nothing says anti-intellect better than a reminder that we still live 2000 years in the past and base decisions, policies and the future on mythology.

 

~Bang

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Nothing says anti-intellect better than a reminder that we still live 2000 years in the past and base decisions, policies and the future on mythology.

~Bang

Don't forget "a 2,000 year old piece of mythology, which predicts that things will always be the way they were, 2,000 years ago. And which the poster thinks is true".

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The internet has made everything much better in some ways, and much worse in others.

 

Any belief you are predisposed to have, you can find "evidence" in favor somewhere on the Web.  A like minded community out there will reinforce those beliefs and biases.

 

All you need to do after that is listen to leaders (who you follow because they agree with you) as they discredit the experts who disagree with you as biased or political, and you are 100% good to go in your ignorance.  

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Kinda disagree. It's people like the anti-vaxxers that I am talking about. Manipulating data is much easier to do then you think. When I worked in labs, I attended alot of seminars on it given by investigators. Took then over a decade to catch some people who manipulated environmental data.

I'm not a conspiracy theorist at all. I just don't turn a blind eye to it. As a scientist I have learned to not just reject either sides argument. I go into it completely open minded, read the data both sides present and draw my own conclusion. But then I don't write that conclusion in stone...I know that my conclusion may be incorrect and adjust it based off any new data presented.

Lol I'm not talking about any one particular thing. I think you by assuming things and ALWAYS showing political agenda are part of the problem.

Me...I have zero agenda

I have one agenda... TRUTH
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Critical thinking has been removed.

Look at the way some stories develop in the media, and how many people latch on to absurd narratives (to the point that the absurd narrative never goes away because it took such a strangle hold.)

In the larger picture, we have a political environment turned toxic mostly because of (in my opinion) the lack of ability to think critically about things.

Hypocrisy would be a close second on the list for me.

edit: and it's not just one party. "the left" does it just as well as "the right".

The left has its share of bull****. Michael Moore & farenhight 9/11 come to mind.

There wre reasonable reasons not to support the war but Moore destroyed rational debate with emotional bull**** and conspiracy theories.

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I have one agenda... TRUTH

 

When you get wrapped around the axle posting nothing but biased articles on every topic you preach, you really aren't interested in the truth.  You kind of bought into the extremes of one of the dominant factions.

 

Step 1 is admitting that you understand bias in reporting, especially on the internet.  Only then can you free yourself from that bondage.  :D

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As a scientist I have learned to not just reject either sides argument. I go into it completely open minded, read the data both sides present and draw my own conclusion. 

 

 

That's awfully noble of you. And appropriate for an actual scientiffc discussion. But when the discussion is not about scientific truth on one side but really politics or some other agenda the "data presented" is often fabricated, missleading or out of context, at best.

 

Good luck interpreting that.

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The left has its share of bull****. Michael Moore & farenhight 9/11 come to mind.

There wre reasonable reasons not to support the war but Moore destroyed rational debate with emotional bull**** and conspiracy theories.

 

 

It always boils down to fear mongering.  In some respects politics is the manipulation of fear... both on the right and the left.

 

The further left or further right you lean, the bigger **** you truly are.  You're just a frightened little ****.  Period.

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That's awfully noble of you. And appropriate for an actual scientiffc discussion. But when the discussion is not about scientific truth on one side but really politics or some other agenda the "data presented" is often fabricated, missleading or out of context, at best.

 

Good luck interpreting that.

Also made rougher when the data is qualitative instead of quantitative. That's why some foster ridiculous beliefs that slaves should have been loyal and grateful for their captivity and beatings. They can take a data set... say, what percentage of slaves ran away or what percentage of slaves attacked their masters and then draw their own conclusions and then, draw conclusions off of those conclusions.

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The left has its share of bull****. Michael Moore & farenhight 9/11 come to mind.

There wre reasonable reasons not to support the war but Moore destroyed rational debate with emotional bull**** and conspiracy theories.

 

Yes, but the left's share of BS is much much smaller. The magnitude of nonsense from both sides isn't even close.  Michael Moore puts out a couple hours of garbage once every couple of years.  Hannity and Limbaugh are on the air spewing emotional BS and conspiracy theories every day.

 

The liberal anti-science crowd is a sideshow and mainstream liberal politicians are more than happy to call them out. Meanwhile, Republican leaders are vehemently afraid of upsetting their anti-science believers.

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