06 APR 2011 by ideonexus
Middlebrow Culture of Effort
The distinctive feature of American middlebrow culture was its embodiment of the old civic credo that anyone willing to invest time and energy in self-education might better himself. Many uneducated lowbrows, particularly immigrants, cherished middlebrow values: the millions of sets of encyclopedias sold door to door from the twenties through the fifties were often purchased on the installment plan by parents who had never owned a book but were willing to sacrifice to provide their children w...Folksonomies: anti-intellectualism intellectualism
Folksonomies: anti-intellectualism intellectualism
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notesThe post-WWII people who bought encyclopedias and literature were trying to better themselves and believed in self-improvement through self-education. When that culture was lost in favor of pop-culture, America lost its middle-class intellectualism.
06 APR 2011 by ideonexus
Characteristics of Junk Science
The inseparability of junk science from junk thought is evinced by the telltale marks of endemic illogic coupled, in many instances, with deliberate manipulativeness. The first and most fundamental warning sign is an inability to distinguish between coincidence and causation—a basic requirement for scientific literacy… A second telltale sign of junk thought is the appropriation of scientific-sounding language without underlying scientific evidence or logic… A third important element in much o... 1 notes
notesJacoby outlines four characteristics or human flaws that allow for the propagation of junk science.
06 APR 2011 by ideonexus
Intellectual Quackery in Academia
Intellectual quackery extends throughout the landscape of academia; tenured professors in the humanities and social sciences, on the right and left, are constantly purveying theories that are the philosophical, literary, and artistic equivalents of junk science. That many of the researchers consider themselves intellectuals is sad but unremarkable in the annals of quackery withing academia: junk thought with an intellectual patina fosters anti-intellectualism as effectively as junk science wi... 1 notes
notesThis is the worst form of junk-thought, because it comes from a source the public considers reliable, the Colleges and Universities.
03 APR 2011 by ideonexus
Alexandria's Promise of a Brilliant Scientific Civilization
;Only once before in our history was there the promise of a brilliant scientific civilization. Beneficiary of the Ionian Awakening, it had its citadel at the Library of Alexandria, where 2,000 years ago the best minds of antiquity established the foundations for the systematic study of mathematics, physics, biology, astronomy, literature, geography and medicine. We build on those foundations still. The Library was constructed and supported by the Ptolemys, the Greek kings who inherited the Eg...
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1 Carl Sagan recounts the destruction of science and enlightenment in ancient Alexandria at the hands of religious zealotry.
03 APR 2011 by ideonexus
A Selection of Nerd-Hating Quotes
Vivek Mishra: Nerds only do study and nothing else.They don't know how to love and they don't even know anything about friendship.They are fatso and are bloody psychos.Someone said that they are going to rule the world I think they are completely wrong because world is ruled by normal people who knows what is life all about.
Kyle Gjefle: I hate nerds because they think that they're so better than everybody else and they are annoying and they are teacher's pets
Milö Geary: Technology has mad...Folksonomies: anti-intellectualism
Folksonomies: anti-intellectualism
From the Facebook "I Hate Nerds" page.
28 MAR 2011 by ideonexus
John Quincy Adams VS Andrew Jackson, Nerd VS Fighter
John Quincy Adams,
Who can write,
And Andrew Jackson,
Who can fight.Folksonomies: anti-intellectualism
Folksonomies: anti-intellectualism
An American newspaper describes the choice between the two presidential candidates with this slogan.
28 MAR 2011 by ideonexus
Ichabod Crane, America's First Fictional Nerd
[Ichabod Crane] was a native of Connecticut; a State which supplies the Union with pioneers for the mind as well as for the forest, and sends forth yearly its legions of frontier woodsmen and country schoolmasters. The cognomen of Crane was not inapplicable to his person. He was tall, but exceedingly lank, with narrow shoulders, long arms and legs, hands that dangled a mile out of his sleeves, feet that might have served for shovels, and his whole frame most loosely hung together. His head wa...Folksonomies: anti-intellectualism
Folksonomies: anti-intellectualism
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow's main character's biggest flaw is that he is a nerd, and after her vanishes, the people move the school and burn some of his books.
28 MAR 2011 by ideonexus
Obama is a Nerd, and That's Bad
[Obama White House is] the kid in school who waves his A test score in front of the entire class but never gets picked to play baseball. He’s an arrogant nerd, and no matter how smart he is, he can’t hit, he can’t throw and he can’t run.Folksonomies: anti-intellectualism
Folksonomies: anti-intellectualism
Mike Huckabee says the problem with Obama is that he's a nerd and isn't into sports.
