When did Intelligence go out of fashion? When did Truth change from a universal obligation to a partisan preference? When did Science, Medicine, all branches of scholarship turn political? When did Honesty turn Heresy?
Intellectual progress was the boast of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries. Politics were messy, the arts were patchy, but nothing could arrest the forward march of disciplined Discovery. The diseases we cured, the natural forces we tamed, the barriers we broke by collaborating in the pursuit of truth! Education permitted participation in this proud parade. Teachers and professors were honored (if never well paid).
These days Truth, Science, Research, Facts be damned. Educators are maligned as secret agents of maleficent fiends. Data that contradicts a Leader’s claim is treasonous. Harvard is a smear and sneer. Revise the facts so they flatter power.
Surely this is the surprise of our age. Attitudes might differ but wasn’t Truth sacrosanct? “You are entitled to your opinion,” said Senator Moynihan, speaking for the consensus. “But you are not entitled to your own facts.”
If Truth is deceptive, how do we know what to do or how to be? If nothing’s right, nothing can be wrong. Without reliable information, how do we think? Confusion, consternation, chaos reign. We memorize what we’re told, we dare not doubt, it’s too dangerous, what’s the use?
Blame our calamity on our success.
During my lifetime, knowledge ramified beyond any brain’s capacity to comprehend. The rampant genius of Science made us all feel like dopes. Let one homely example stand for countless.
Sixty years ago, doing what I’m doing now, translating thoughts into words, my tools would have been paper, pen (or typewriter), the books on my shelf. I knew the origin and use of these tools. Today, I’m “inputting” on a computer, accessing information from an invisible infinitude, benefitting from algorithmic deputies, and dispatching my results to a throng by pushing an icon labeled “Send.” While appreciative for the assistance, I have no idea how any of these tools function and couldn’t fathom the explanations if I wanted to. I’m as impotent and clueless as a rat in a maze. My only recourse, if my tools fail me, is to reboot, whatever that means.
More and more, in every sphere, human ingenuity has demoted humans to dependents, slaves of systems we cannot recognize, much less resist. Inevitably, we feel less consequential, capable, confident, and our subliminal disparagement galls our pride. Resentful of our abasement, we rebel against our overlords. To hell with Science, Intelligence, Know-It-All Technology, that diminished us to data-points! Screw Facts – we humans matter!
Hating is more exciting than Subservience. The Nameless One mined this deep ill-defined vein of grievance. Many of us, it seemed, were furious about everything, spying enemies behind every bush. Immigrants, transgender kids, pointy-heads, teachers, sober researchers, leaders, anybody who didn’t resemble them assumed the face of their oppressor. Let nonsense reign, as long as caps were doffed!
Stupidity cascades into catastrophe. Enact the worst imaginable policies on every front, employ the dopiest dolts, and soon enough, the crash comes, and for its survivors, astonished regret. It won’t be long now. The Nameless One feels no dread, envisioning himself as divinely ordained, a delusion typical of tyrants. America is enduring the tantrum of a tot raging at its impotence.
Intelligence will endure to repair the damage. We will use our heads again, respect facts and science, because we’ll have learned the cost of idiocy. It may take decades, generations, the breakage and sorrow will be immense, but Intelligence will never accept bestiality as our best result. We know better.