I just read an interesting CNN interview with Charles Barkley about this phenomenon of (black) kids getting made fun of for doing well in school. I think Rachel is right on about the divide between the educated and undereducated, and the scientifically literate and the scientifically illiterate. When we have a society where people follow more than they truly think, or check out the facts, it's dangerous. I have been impressed that CNN (for one) has a "fact check" links online in articles talking about the politicians claims - because that is exactly what we need is a de-spinning of the propaganda that is out there....
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/27/brown.barkley/index.html Campbell Brown: So you see him more as a role model? Charles Barkley: I see him as a great role model 'cause we got to get more black kids educated. And you know we have this terrible thing going on in the black community about if a black kid does well in school we make fun of him. We've got to get more black kids getting their education, carrying themselves with great dignity, and self esteem. I've always looked at this as bigger picture. I mean, because if he wins, it ain't like -- really, I think he's just a great role model for young black kids. I don't mean that in a negative as far as, like, who the president is is really not going to have a huge effect on people's everyday life. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Wendee Holtcamp, M.S. Wildlife Ecology Freelance Writer * Photographer * Bohemian http://www.wendeeholtcamp.com http://bohemianadventures.blogspot.com ~~6-wk Online Writing Courses Starts Nov 8~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded." Ralph Waldo Emerson -----Original Message----- From: Ecological Society of America: grants, jobs, news [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Dr. Rachel O'Malley Sent: Tuesday, October 28, 2008 4:15 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] EDUCATION Solution and Problem Re: [ECOLOG-L] Acceptance of basic research, even with fruit flies] Anti-intellectualism and name calling are a problem all around (unfortunately, we are also to blame: negative words like "slacker," "idiot," "fool," "birdbrain" come easily to my mind...). My 8th-grader came home yesterday saying: "I think it would be better if the school didn't post lists of who is on the honor roll. Other people are jealous and make fun of them, and say things like 'they are abnormally smart,' so kids who want to be liked stop trying to do well." (At least for now she says that kind of thing doesn't bother _her_...) My 3rd grader had a falling-out with two classmates because she told them she didn't believe in god, and they took great offense. This is in Santa Cruz, CA, not the heartland. We are at some risk of returning to the medieval mindframe. The schism has grown between the educated and the undereducated, the wealthy and the struggling, the elite and the many, of late. We can take some solace in the possibility that the current presidential race may shift the popular current toward support for education and social justice, but we all have to work really hard in the next 7 days. The bigger the win, the better for us all. -------- Original Message -------- Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] EDUCATION Solution and Problem Re: [ECOLOG-L] Acceptance of basic research, even with fruit flies Date: Tue, 28 Oct 2008 19:39:48 -0000 From: William Silvert <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> The Joe I referred to was Joe six-pack the plumber who seems to be the main voter in the current US election. I do not think that anti-intellectual snobbery is mainly or even largely due to intellectual elitism. Almost all the scientists and academics I know are either passive with regard to the general public or are actively interested in getting their message across. Just look at language. There are tons of words that imply negative attitudes or downright hostility towards intellectuals, but I have trouble thinking of any in the opposite direction. Egghead, smart-ass, longhair, etc. Aside from condescending references to "elevator music" I think that most of the people I know are simply ready to say "I don't like hip-hop/country/R&B" rather than putting it down. Anti-intellectualism is a basic part of our culture, and many others as well. Totalitarian regimes usually kill off or imprison the academics, students and and anyone else capable of thinking critically. It is much more fundamental than simply rejection of snotty professors. Unfortunately trying to reach out to and communicate with the general public often backfires. Telling people that we study genetics with fruit flies is an example. Can you imagine Palin geting a laugh out of telling people that funding was going to something called Drosophila? Bill Silvert ----- Original Message ----- From: "Wayne" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "William Silvert" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, October 28, 2008 7:14 PM Subject: EDUCATION Solution and Problem Re: [ECOLOG-L] Acceptance of basic research, even with fruit flies >I admit an imperfect knowledge, and one perhaps somewhat biased by USA >provincialism, but it seems that part of this phenomenon must be laid to >the researchers themselves, and to a great extent to the academic community >at large. I do not suggest that any given professor can single-handedly >create more than a ripple where a tsunami is required, but then we can't >cast them all, innocent and guilty, into the sea simultaenously, eh? > > But seriously, folks, how hard a look has been given at the complex of > phenomena which have given rise to, shall we say, "anti-intellectualism?" > > Let's face it, academia is a GUILD. It is, by definition, an ELITE group. > And the more it hardens the line between itself and the outsiders, the > more the outsiders harden their side of the line. "Joe," in this case, is > a thinly-veiled insult to those outsiders. Academics should, then, expect > support? > > WT > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "William Silvert" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: <[email protected]> > Sent: Monday, October 27, 2008 8:22 AM > Subject: [ECOLOG-L] Acceptance of basic research, even with fruit flies > > >> It isn't just the public Joes that pose a problem. Governments too tend >> to dump basic research when funding gets tight, failing to realise that >> this is the resource on which all our scientific advances are based. The >> past few decades have seen drastic cuts in research funding around the >> globe, with only the most obvious applied projects being funded.
