Is this the "Age of Ignorance"?

[Azrael]

Charlie Simic thinks so.

"Where else on earth would a president who rescued big banks from bankruptcy with taxpayers’ money and allowed the rest of us to lose $12 trillion in investment, retirement, and home values be called a socialist? "

www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblog/2012/mar/20/age-of-ignorance/

 

[Stitch]

When did the Age of Ignorance begin? I'd say it's when life occurred.

 

[The Big Ragu]

I found that pretty unreadable. So if it's the age of ignorance, I might be leading the way.

 

[Bob Cook]

There have always been stupid, uninformed people who vote, and there always will be stupid, uninformed people who vote.

 

[HejiraHenry]

There have always been stupid, uninformed people who vote write, and there always will be stupid, uninformed people who vote write.

Fixed.

 

[Herbert Anchovy]

 

[Azrael]

There have always been stupid, uninformed people who vote write, and there always will be stupid, uninformed people who vote write.

Fixed.

Yes. What could Charles Simic know?

www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/27

 

[Dick Whitman]

Have you read that book? It's more about the social media age and how the Internets are diminishing intellectual development rather than adding to it. Pretty dry and academic at times, but interesting nonetheless. There's a whole subgenre of these books out there: "The Swallows," "Alone Together," etc., etc. I would say that Charles Pierce's "Idiot America," aka "Why I Hate Republicans, Part 4,535,928," aka "I Am the Smartest Person Ever Born, Part 5,385,294," is more in line with the idea that we are living in an age of ignorance.

As for the initial quote from the column, according to the very good Atlantic piece on Ben Bernanke this month, the bailout money has been returned to the tax payers at this point, with interest. So there's that.

 

[The Big Ragu]

He might be a great poet.

But that was an essay.

And to me he sounded unhinged in that piece.

 

[Herbert Anchovy]

****, yes. I liked it. A little cranky and unforgiving at times, but accurate. People use the Internet to seek what they already know, and are free to go find something else if they feel the least bit challenged. It's a world that harvests ignorance.

 

[Dick Whitman]

****, yes. I liked it. A little cranky and unforgiving at times, but accurate. People use the Internet to seek what they already know, and are free to go find something else if they feel the least bit challenged. That's a world that cultivates ignorance.

I give him credit for going ahead and writing it, because if you say a harsh word about the Internet in 2012, you are inviting tons and tons of blowback. The common refrain is something along the lines of: "This is exactly what they said about Gutenberg/radio/TV!"

 

[Bob Cook]

There have always been people who declare the young stupid and uninformed, and there always will be people who declare the young stupid and uninformed.

 

[dreunc1542]

****, yes. I liked it. A little cranky and unforgiving at times, but accurate. People use the Internet to seek what they already know, and are free to go find something else if they feel the least bit challenged.

With the caveat that I haven't read the book, that's not exactly something limited to those under 30. I know many people under 30 who are significantly more intellectually curious than some others I know who are older than 30.

I don't disagree that the Internet can be a problem for a variety of reasons, though, for people of any age.

 

[Dick Whitman]

There have always been people who declare the young stupid and uninformed, and there always will be people who declare the young stupid and uninformed.

That does not mean, in isolated cases, that they are not correct.

 

[Zeke12]

I think the appropriate citation is Richard Hofstader, and go from there.

Viewed in that way, there's not a thing unhinged about that essay -- he's saying Hofstader was right.

And he was.

 

[YGBFKM]

You can be intellectually curious and still be ignorant.

 

[Dick Whitman]

****, yes. I liked it. A little cranky and unforgiving at times, but accurate. People use the Internet to seek what they already know, and are free to go find something else if they feel the least bit challenged.

With the caveat that I haven't read the book, that's not exactly something limited to those under 30. I know many people under 30 who are significantly more intellectually curious than some others I know who are older than 30.

I don't disagree that the Internet can be a problem for a variety of reasons, though, for people of any age.

I agree with you. In fact, I find that among my peer group, particularly college classmates, intellectual curiosity seems to wane as time passes. But I think that Bauerlein's premise is appropriate because the generation coming through now, essentially people under 30, is the first to grow up on the Internet the way we grew up on TV. And certainly the Internet and technology in the context of formal education is a worthwhile topic that is confined to young people.

 

[Bob Cook]

There have always been people who declare the young stupid and uninformed, and there always will be people who declare the young stupid and uninformed.

That does not mean, in isolated cases, that they are not correct.

I think in our travels we've all found people of any age who are stupid and uninformed. It doesn't take growing up with the Internet to actively narrow your mind.

 

[YGBFKM]

Before I make a decision on this Simic guy and what he has to say, I need to know his politics.

 

[Zeke12]

You can be intellectually curious and still be ignorant.

True, but it's much less likely.

It's like saying you can work out and still be out of shape.