Ron Reagan - The Problem Isn’t Just Trump. It’s Our Ignorant Electorate
In the early 21st century, around a quarter
of our citizenry seems unaware that the earth revolves around the sun..
Virulent as he may be,
Donald J. Trump is a symptom not the disease. Without us, he would amount to
nothing more than what he had always been before the bizzaro presidential
election of 2016: a foppish narcissist desperate for any measure of
affirmation; a joke; a nothing. He did not create his voters. They have been
there all along, seething with sometimes justifiable anger and suffering their
various insecurities. They created and enabled Trump. And make no mistake, in
all their vulnerable humanity, they are us: Gullible, compliant, distracted,
marinating in irony. At root, we the people
are the problem.
We are understandably
reluctant to impugn the intelligence and integrity of our fellow citizens. It
is arrogant, uncivil, bad form. Who are we, any of us, to hold ourselves
superior? When Hillary Clinton referred to some Trump supporters as
“deplorables”, she was roundly castigated on all sides. How dare she? Yet it is
an uncomfortable reality that anywhere from a fifth to a third of our
electorate can be fairly (if gently) described as low-information voters. If
the results of numerous polls and questionnaires are to be trusted, they know
very little about the world they inhabit and what they do “know” is often
woefully incorrect.
Surveys conducted every two years by the
National Science Foundation consistently demonstrate that slightly more than
half of Americans reject the settled science concerning human evolution. They
are not unaware that virtually all credible scientists accept the overwhelming
evidence that we evolved from earlier species. They simply choose not to accept
that consensus because it doesn’t comport with their deeply held beliefs. Many
also embrace the absurd notion that the earth is only six thousand years old.
Astonishingly, in the early 21st century, around a quarter of our citizenry
seems unaware that said earth revolves around the sun.
It is a mistake to
regard concern about such ignorance as effete snobbery or elitist
condescension. While misapprehensions about basic astronomy, earth science and
biology may have little impact on these folk’s daily lives, does anyone
actually believe that similarly uninformed views aren’t likely to affect their
grasp of policies regarding, say, climate change? Income inequality? Gun
violence? Immigration? Profound knowledge
gaps like the aforementioned reveal an inability to think critically and leave
a person vulnerable to all manner of chicanery. We are all ignorant about many
things. Don’t get me started on my dismal grasp of mathematics! But the
hallmark of a sound education is not glorying in what you think you know, but,
instead, appreciating the vastness of what you don’t know.
If ignorance is the
key that opens the door for charlatans like Trump, improved education, whether
in school or in the public square, would seem to provide an obvious solution.
But here we confront the perverse Dunning-Kruger Effect identified by psychologists—essentially,
the less we know, the more certain we become of our superior knowledge. We have
also discovered that exposure to facts and evidence does not always have the
expected impact. Many people, when confronted by irrefutable proof that some core
belief is incorrect, don’t change their minds but dig in their heels. What
feels right to them must be right and no amount logic and reasoning will
dissuade them. Emotion trumps evidence... read more:
