People are losing the ability to think critically. Some are made ignorant; others choose ignorance.
Still others are just plain stupid. Regardless, the demonization of critical thinking will cause the collapse of the United States.
The Founding Fathers understood that a democracy thrives when the electorate is educated. Thomas Jefferson claimed, “Whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government.” This experiment with democracy, as flawed as we have constructed it, is doomed to disintegrate if we continue to celebrate ignorance as truth.
Ignorance should not be confused with a lack of formal education. I know several PhDs whose intelligence borders on stupidity.
Yet my own mother, may she rest in peace, was illiterate and never attended school. However, her wisdom and street-smarts surpassed many who are referred to as “doctors.”
Still, the purpose of an education is crucial, as it ideally teaches students how to think for themselves, how to discern between partisan propaganda and academic documentation, and how to decolonize minds that have been groomed to maintain the privilege, power and profits of the few at the expense of the many.
If democracy functions best among those with a basic understanding of critical thinking, why then would a democratic government promote ignorance? Because democracy gets in the way of authoritarian tendencies. Critical thinking exposes demagogues, making it more difficult for them to consolidate their unearned dominance.
This makes me wonder why the current administration has dismantled the Department of Education? Why has it celebrated and supported the creation of Professor Watchlists to single out educators who question white supremacy’s attempt to capture governmental levers of power? Why is the public encouraged to sue professors who made them uncomfortable when dealing with racism, classism, heterosexism and sexism?
But then I remember: The majority of voters comprising the electorate do not have a four-year college degree and 67 percent of those voters represented Trump’s electoral base in 2024. It behooves certain politicians to keep the electorate as ignorant as possible.
Imposed Ignorance
Some are made ignorant by deliberate actions to make it more challenging to receive an education. Because of the elimination of scholarships and the capitalization of student loans, poor students hoping for an education to break the cycle of poverty face unaffordable tuition, making the prospect of obtaining a degree financially suicidal.
For white middle-class students with the means to attend college, the enemies of education make it unappealing by demonizing professors and educational institutions. For students of color seeking to break through racial barriers, white affirmative action, based on the assumption all college placements are the birthright of whites, eliminates scholarships geared to such communities, labeling these scholarships as “racist.” If students of color are admitted, the school environment has been made more challenging for them by the dismantling of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives.
Ignorance is also maintained by withholding information that contradicts the false narratives designed to privilege those in power. Consider that the FDA just blocked the release of an extensive scientific report based on a review of millions of patients’ records, demonstrating the COVID-19 and Shingles vaccines are safe.
The public is not allowed to know the truth if it undermines the narrative of the powerful. False realities must be constructed to protect the emperor with no clothes, even if it means adding Sharpie marks to the National Hurricane weather map.
Making people ignorant can be successful. I recall my first and only pastorate.
When I arrived at the parsonage in my U-Haul with about a hundred books, one of the deacons left the church. He said a pastor doesn’t need so many books; all he needs is one, the Bible.
Having too much learning was defined as wrong, if not satanic. I can only wonder what he would say of my current 3,000+ book collection.
Willful Ignorance
Some are made ignorant, while others choose to be ignorant.
I am fascinated by the U.S. Senate vetting of potential federal judges for lifetime appointments. These posts require independence, courage, wisdom and judicial temperament. And yet, the responses given to Senator Richard Blumenthal’s (D-CT) query to impending candidates to measure their integrity are mind-bending.
He asks them a simple question: “Who won the 2020 election?” They respond, “Biden was certified,” avoiding any hint of saying he “won.”
That Biden won is a historical fact. But it is a fact that contradicts the president’s false reality. So, these candidates to the federal bench choose ignorance for the power that comes with defending ignorance.
Today’s officials who know the truth are choosing ignorance because it is beneficial to do so—hence their enabling of the false beliefs that the 2020 election was stolen, January 6 was a peaceful gathering of tourists, and climate change is a hoax. Also, there is no inflation, Mexico is paying for the wall, and the undocumented are criminals and rapists. Finally, add to the list, Ukraine attacked Russia; and Iran was about to attack Israel.
Plain Stupidity
While some are made ignorant and others willingly choose ignorance, some are just plain stupid. Or as that great modern philosopher Forrest Gump once said, “Stupid is as stupid does.” What is it, then, that stupid does?
Saying something like “no one knows more about [INSERT TOPIC HERE] than I do.” Insisting one is a “stable genius” or taking great pride in passing a test to measure cognitive skills.
“Stupid does” when one ignores the advice of experts, such as “don’t invade [INSERT COUNTRY HERE],” but they do so anyway because they are the smartest person in the room. Or making life-threatening decisions not based on research or studies, but on one’s guts, which, as it is claimed, are never wrong.
I have discovered in life that those who brag about their intelligence are usually overcompensating for their stupidity. Hubris masks insecurity, especially in situations where there are smarter people in the room. This is why it is crucial for the sake of one’s ego to surround oneself with incompetent sycophants who take turns praising the naked emperor during Cabinet meetings to ensure no one smarter could be a threat to the illusion.
True intelligence, true wisdom is recognizing how much one doesn’t know. As another great philosopher, Socrates, this time of the ancient world, said: “The only thing that I know is that I know nothing.”
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Professor of Social Ethics and Latinx Studies at Iliff School of Theology in Denver, Colorado, and a contributing correspondent at Good Faith Media.