Thursday, January 13, 2011

asimov on ignorance

Growing up, I read a lot of science fiction, especially by Isaac Asimov. I'm not sure how that came to be exactly, but after a couple years of lots of Hardy Boys mysteries, I migrated over to science fiction, eminently enjoying Foundation Series in particular. I ended up reading a great deal of his non-fiction, whether it be science literature or general commentary and editorials. Asimov had an easily accessible writing style that made for quick reading. In fact, one of his commentary pieces was about that very subject and why his novels were "page-turners" for so many.

Thus, I am a sucker for a good Asimov quote and I wish I could find out when he first penned this one:
"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.'"

So relevant and, perhaps most frustratingly, it has likely been relevant for a very long time.

1 comment:

Scott Hayman said...

One of the best examples of this I can readily think of is the (successful? Not really the point) attempt at getting "Intelligent Design" taught in biology classes as a valid 'theory' of life's origins and development...

Newsflash: Just because you call it 'science' doesn't mean it actually is...