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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Maple MAGA who wrote (1301240)	5/20/2021 1:17:13 PM
From: Wharf Rat	Respond to of 1578106

The Cult Of Ignorance: Isaac Asimov And The COVID-19 Pandemic July 7, 2020 Samuel O'Brient The Cult of Ignorance: Isaac Asimov and the COVID-19 Pandemic As the global pandemic of the Coronavirus continues to rear its ugly head, I, like most of the quarantined world, find myself with plenty of time to think. I’ve never been a man of science, although I’ve also never questioned for a moment that it is real. Despite being a lifelong avid reader, I’ve never been a fan of the science fiction genre. The one work of sci-fi that I enjoyed as a youth, though, is a volume that has stood the test of time since its publication in 1950. Written by Isaac Asimov, ‘?I, Robot’? has remained popular to this day partly because of the 2004 film adaptation starring Will Smith. As automation has continued to transform our economy, though, many of us have come to realize that the possibility of robots taking over may not be as far-fetched as we once imagined. Since the early weeks of 2020, robotic technology has seemed a tiny threat to the global economy compared to the new phenomenon of a global pandemic. I was not surprised by the dismal reactions of Donald Trump and his administration but it deeply saddened me that so many people were quick to dismiss the? ?warnings? of leading science and public health officials and opted to trust the health advice of a man who looked directly at an eclipse. The same people who seemed to fancy themselves scholars of Constitutional law during the impeachment proceedings just a few weeks before were suddenly infectious disease experts. In typical Trump supporter fashion, they were quick to push anti-science rhetoric, no matter how much evidence to the contrary was presented, giving the Trump administration exactly the? ?license? they didn’t need. Watching all this unfold, I have found myself constantly reminded of a quote from Asimov in which he stated – “There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of 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.” As I see it, Asimov did an excellent job of summing up one of the central problems of our culture on which the current pandemic has shed light. The “strain of anti-intellectualism” is by no means new, particularly in political matters. In his 2016 memoir ?Hillbilly Elegy,? J.D. Vance noted that former President Barack Obama’s way of speaking tended to repel voters from his native Rust Belt region stating, “He was a former professor of constitutional law and talked like it.” The sentiment against intellectualism in politics was again demonstrated during the 2018 primary race when Elizabeth Warren’s method carefully laying out her policy proposals failed to propel her polling numbers over those of candidates who remained vaguer on important policies, prompting the? ?theory? that she had been punished by voters for her intelligence and professionalism. In the age of the Covid19 outbreak, though, we are seeing not only how large the current cult of ignorance truly is but how dangerous it can be. While we wait for science to produce a vaccine that can eradicate or at least delay the global spread of the virus, our best weapon is the practice of social distancing–something far too many people still don’t seem to understand. The U.S. currently has more cases of the virus than any other nation yet a dangerous amount of people still refuse to accept the severity of the public health crisis threatening all of us. The concept of staying indoors to protect both ourselves and our loved ones shouldn’t be a hard one to grasp, and it shouldn’t be so unappealing, particularly as more and more companies and universities are shifting to remote work and classes. Previous generations have been called to storm the beaches at Normandy and fight for their lives in the jungles of Vietnam. Most of us who don’t work in the Healthcare industry are being called to sit on our couches and watch Netflix. The economy may be facing severe problems but in the meantime, boredom and cabin fever seem like small prices to pay for keeping ourselves and our loved ones alive during a global pandemic. More than anything, we are being presented with clear scientific evidence and ignorance is dangerous. People are literally paying the price for it with their lives. I’m sorry to be blunt but your ignorance is ?not ?as good as your neighbor’s knowledge when it is costing people their lives and prolonging a crisis that will have lasting effects long after the dust has settled–both economic and political. When you remain willingly ignorant of the practices that can help flatten the coronavirus curve as outlined by medically qualified doctors and scientists, you are endangering the lives of everyone around you. It’s been said before, but it can’t be said enough–we all need to behave as though we have the coronavirus because it is the only way to ensure that we don’t end up with it. Denying science has quickly become the most costly form of ignorance there is, from both a medical and economic standpoint. It is costing many people their lives and others, their jobs. Treating ignorance the same way we do knowledge is a luxury we cannot afford right now. Science is real and it is the only thing that will save us in the long run. To paraphrase the words of Neil deGrasse Tyson, “?The good thing about science is that it’s true whether or not you believe in it.” As the death toll continues to mount, I wish more people believed it. Believing in science can save lives, now more than ever. curiosityshots.com