Friday, May 10, 2019

Yes, Everything You Know Is Wrong.

 Social media, and the internet have helped to foster a cult of ignorance. 

We are witnessing an incredible accelerating wave of anti-rationalism and emotion over reason in public debate, and blurring of lines among fact and opinion and lies. Today, everyone knows everything. Today, it is absolutely true that all voices, even the most ridiculous are demanding to not only be heard but to be taken seriously, to be given equal seriousness to every other voice, regardless of the disparity in educational achievement. And attempts to verify or qualify the credibility of a person or group of people claiming to know things, are dismissed as hate-speech and/or fascism.

Tom Nichols, author of 'The Death of Expertise' has this to say:
"the increasingly democratic dissemination of information, rather than producing an educated public, has instead created an army of ill-informed and angry citizens who denounce intellectual achievement."
We're seeing this everywhere. On college campuses, in political campaigns, in debates on cable news masquerading as journalism, where twenty-something “Experts” pontificate about subjects they know little about.  And it’s not only the death of expertise, as explained by Nichols, it is also the death of reasoned debate, and, ironically, it is the death of tolerance.

We are told we only have 12 years left until the world ends from climate change…if you disagree you are a climate denier.  We need to break our addiction to fossil fuels or our coastal cities will end up under water…if you disagree you are anti-science.  

If you oppose abortion you hate women and obviously want to rule over them....If you oppose higher taxes you’re anti-government and want potholes, dirty air, and anarchy....If you support a secure border you’re not only xenophobic, you hate brown people.....If you are against Socialism you know nothing about Sweden and of course, you hate poor people… If you support Capitalism, you’re obviously against the environment and hate poor people.…

If you wear a “Make America Great Again” hat, you hate blacks, women, Mexican, gays and you want to bring back Jim Crow, back-alley abortions, and slavery….If you support DJT you are a sexist, bigot and a fascist who hates democracy and the rule of law… If you oppose gender-neutral bathrooms, you clearly hate transgender people…etc, etc,etc.

Remember, everything is right until it’s wrong. Believe me. You can take it to the bank......

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