This is very much a late Friday afternoon post that has nothing to do with city government, the budget, or the mayor. NYT has a review of a book that explores this nation's embrace of not knowing the answers to questions:
But now, Ms. Jacoby said, something different is happening: anti-intellectualism (the attitude that “too much learning can be a dangerous thing”) and anti-rationalism (“the idea that there is no such things as evidence or fact, just opinion”) have fused in a particularly insidious way.
Not only are citizens ignorant about essential scientific, civic and cultural knowledge, she said, but they also don’t think it matters.
USA! USA!
Comments (1)
When you jump from a tall building, flap your arms about in the air like a bird as you're falling, and likewise believe that you are actually "flying," until you smash into reality, it really doesn't matter to you that your belief is full of crap. For what is there in that moment as you're falling to make you see the truth? And that's pretty much where things stand here and now.
Many do see the ground below rapidly approaching as they fall. But they have this belief that if they hit that approaching ground hard enough, the ground is what will give way, not them. That, too, speaks to where things stand here and now in terms of the outlook of so many.
And "so far so good" is the currently ongoing conclusion. The invincible spirit, albeit one sans all sense and logic. At another time in history the coined phrase for this was "triumph of the will."
And Dan, though you say this has nothing to do with city government, the budget, or the mayor, quite the contrary, what you cite is ALL those things combined now. Here in Philadelphia we have a government in place that says "Get out of my face with that" as we present it with the facts. Or, if it's in an amiable mood, it will say "nice opinion," and then continue right on with its free fall, unphased.
Posted by Steve W. | February 16, 2008 2:31 AM