There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge."
Interpretation
This quote critiques the anti-intellectual attitude present in society, suggesting that ignorance is often wrongly equated with knowledge in democracy.
Isaac Asimov's quote highlights the persistent issue of anti-intellectualism in the United States, where ignorance is sometimes valued on the same level as knowledge, particularly in a democratic context. He argues that this mindset undermines informed decision-making and progress by fostering a culture that dismisses expertise and facts, allowing misinformation to thrive and influencing the political and cultural landscape negatively.
In practice
In a discussion about education reform, one might invoke this quote to argue against anti-intellectual attitudes.
Democracy cannot survive overpopulation. Human dignity cannot survive it. Convenience and decency cannot survive it. As you put more and more people into the world, the value of life not only declines, but it disappears. It doesn't matter if someone dies.
Science does not promise absolute truth, nor does it consider that such a thing necessarily exists. Science does not even promise that everything in the Universe is amenable to the scientific process.
Democracy cannot survive overpopulation.
Although the time of death is approaching me, I am not afraid of dying and going to Hell or (what would be considerably worse) going to the popularized version of Heaven. I expect death to be nothingness and, for removing me from all possible fears of death, I am thankful to atheism.
A subtle thought that is in error may yet give rise to fruitful inquiry that can establish truths of great value.
During the century after Newton, it was still possible for a man of unusual attainments to master all fields of scientific knowledge. But by 1800, this had become entirely impracticable.
Islam tells us every girl and boy should be educated. I don't know why the Taliban have forgotten it.
But because we've all been readers, we know what the experience is like, and we hope that what certain writers have given to us, we will give to someone.
In many professions, what used to matter most were abilities associated with the left side of the brain: linear, sequential, spreadsheet kind of faculties. Those still matter, but they're not enough.
You have to know human behaviour … And the quality of your writing is absolutely capped at your understanding of human behaviour. You’ll never write above what you know about people.
I am not conscious of working especially hard, or of 'working' at all. Writing and teaching have always been, for me, so richly rewarding that I don't think of them as work in the usual sense of the word.
People who grow up with two or more languages understand that each can express certain aspects of reality better than the other.
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