Nerds and North American Anti-Intellectualism

[tealin]

I just heard a really fascinating discussion on the radio about Americans' mistrust of book-smarts, how this is apparent in the culture as a whole and affecting academic performance vs. the rest of the world. It was gratifying to hear confirmation of some of my own observations about the matter and doubly exciting to hear further conclusions and comparisons to other cultures from an actual anthropologist. Luckily the show is available as a podcast, so I don't have to rely on my shoddy memory! Right-click and download! I highly recommend listening to it; it's not too long (only the first segment of the show) and is really, really fascinating.

Unfortunately it adds another issue to the ever-growing list of Things Which Massive Injections of Cash Will Not Fix But Can Only Be Solved by a Massive Societal Overhaul, so it's unlikely ever to change.

Comments

[ravenclaw-eric.livejournal.com]

Anti-intellectualism isn't necessarily a Bad Thing in and of itself; I've noticed that many Europeans are extremely willing to swallow whatever some bookish pontificator says. This has led to all sorts of trouble.

I will say that open hostility to the intellect is a Bad Thing, but just because someone's got a degree does not make him infallible. I've known scientists, Mensa members, and professors who believed things that were so silly, I had a hard time believing that they were serious.

[thegina.livejournal.com]

I agree with this. Having a degree, even a doctorate degree, doesn't mean you can't still sometimes be a dumbass about something. However, it does mean you are probably likely to know more about your field of study than someone like me, in their second year of undergrad. I think everyone would do well to become more philosophical and to question more. It's not an issue of 'I have this degree and I've read more books so you should not question what I say'. Knowledge itself has only come to be as a result of people observing the world around them and drawing conclusions, and questioning each other, and correcting each other. That's why you shouldn't just blindly eat up whatever someone else says is true, whether that someone is a professor, or a textbook.

[ravenclaw-eric.livejournal.com]

My own take is that reflexive kowtowing is just as bad as reflexive hostility.

[sander123.livejournal.com]

Very interesting. The first time I heard about nerds was from one of my classmates who made an exchange year in the states. I couldn't believe him. In our class the most popular boys were fantasy-roleplayers, scouts, loved comics, computers, chess and did in their free-time things like building little bridge-models with matches. :) so typical nerds :).
At the other hand we have a lot of silly biases, too only for other things. You have a hard time here, when you are very good in something and overenthusiastic, theaters, sports whatever (but that's perhaps a typical swiss thing, we have to be modest all the time).
I'm so glad that I'm not a kid any more :D

[aurorawest.livejournal.com]

Haven't listened to it yet, but I will say that while I don't like to disregard such things immediately, it's not hard to spot a trend of anti-Americanism and...I guess I'll call it Europe-worship from both American scholars and ordinary Americans. I've wondered if it's an attempt to seem "cultured," and then I wonder what kind of country America is becoming if so many people think the only way to be that way is to dislike your homeland...don't know if that's it, though. Idle speculation on my part.

If it's true that Americans really do have a distrust of intellectualism, then I would definitely point out that they're not the only group of people to feel that way (and who are we talking about here, Americans as a whole? Southerners? Midwesterners? New Yorkers? People who live in rural areas? People of a certain income level? These sorts of things are usually more complicated than just "Americans," or "the English," or pick your nationality).

[canisdoofus.livejournal.com]

It seems as though it's people from the coastal areas of the US... the East Coast in particular, that socially mirror the attitudes of Europe and the rest of the World. This is easy to understand -- people from such cities as Boston, New York, Miami, and San Francisco could hardly be considered "globally disconnected". Conversely, people from the midsection have been living in isolation for 250 years.

So while a college graduate in Manhattan carefully heeds and respects the study-finds of Columbia University professors, someone living in Canton, Ohio may find the same research 'foreign' and a bit distrustful and may rely more on traditions. It's simple anthropology.

[themarinator.livejournal.com]

Spot-on. On the same note: although people from large, coastal American cities generally know and respect the rest of the world a lot more than people from middle America, we also tend to know a lot less about other American states and cities. I don't think I've ever had to learn all fifty states at once (I'm from around San Francisco), and for an embarrassingly long time the only state capital I could name (besides Sacramento) was New York, New York.

[shamrockjolnes.livejournal.com]

And that's not even a state captial. ^_^

[themarinator.livejournal.com]

Exactly. For a long time I didn't even know that San Francisco was not the capital of California and that Toronto was not the capital of Canada.

Maybe it's just ME that sucks at geography. But, seriously, all joking aside, Native Californians tend to know nothing about other states.

[floramir.livejournal.com]

Oh, man, your icon is fantastic! It makes me laugh so much!

And it's not just you; I was great at everything in school EXCEPT geography. I still can't locate each state on a map (though I know some 2nd graders who can). I never knew it was because I was a Californian ^_^ But now at least I have an excuse.

And now I guess I've finally figured out why I like Brititsh TV and not American; the British like book-sense. And American's like... Westerns.

[shamrockjolnes.livejournal.com]

You don't need to say that twice. I'm from Nevada and talking to transfer students fresh from California was always an ordeal.

It's almost like another country.

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

Well, I dunno – I spent my early years in California and the year after I moved to Utah I got to State level in the Nat'l Geography bee. If you want to talk knowing nothing about other states or the rest of the world, try Utah...

[shamrockjolnes.livejournal.com]

Of course there are exceptions to the rule. Utah's insularity is understandable, being a very homogenous group that populates the state. The fact that Utah was meant to be its own country in the first place might also effect its populace's ignorance.

People don't really live in Nevada. They move there for a period and then settle elsewhere. Most of its residents hail orignally from California or Utah, so this might account for Nevadans being a little more knowledgeable about the rest of the states.

However, people can live their entire lives in places like California and Utah. Generations upon generations and no one leaves the state.

the dumbing down of north american culture

[(Anonymous)]

This radio show was a long time coming. From my vantage point (Canadian/Albertan) consumers of mass culture are continually sliding down a slippery slope towards group think and mediocre logic. All generations, except maybe seniors, align their thinking to the rebelliousness of pop culture idols. It isn't even a case of what is considered "cool," it's much deeper than that. This group think bleeds over into the consumerist bent evident in any city. Where I live it's -43 C and, because everybody continually buys, there are many homes with garages that are so full of stuff they can't even park their vehicles inside during such frigid weather.
So, when a categorically stereotyped subset of the populace have a different ethos - that is, standing out by being knowledgeable about certain fields of interest not popular with the wider group we see this backlash against intellectualism or "nerdism." Sounds kind of scary doesn't it?