tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6811719312494990925.post-91778484798530435312006-10-13T15:35:00.000-07:002006-10-13T15:35:00.000-07:00Brad -- <br /><br />Thank you for your interesting and lengthy comment. Of course, I agree with you that "blaming the idiots" is not the best way, or even an interesting or informative way, to explain the government's ability to ignore good evidence and arguments at little or no political cost. On the other hand, I think that it is true that American culture is in many ways deeply anti-intellectual (Cf. Richard Hofstadter's "Anti-Intellectualism in American Life"), and I think that much of Bush's appeal, as well as a widespread tendency to dismiss scientific claims as ideological politicking, is usefully explained by this feature of American culture. <br /><br />I think I can say this without pointing an accusing finger at anyone in particular -- that is, without labeling anyone as "an idiot" -- even if your presentation of my view suggests otherwise. So even if I think that there is a strong sense in which we inhabit an "idiot culture," I agree with you that "what Americans need are tools to penetrate, or undercut the motives for producing, the ideological haze." I can say this because even if I think that we inhabit an "idiot culture," I don't think that any particular person is beyond the reach of rational discourse. (I think our culture encourages "idiotic" behavior along the lines of what Colbert describes, but I would never accuse anyone in particular of being an "idiot" in this sense.)<br /><br />But despite the agreement I mention above, I disagree with you that this means that Americans do not need "a reminder about what makes science credible." On the contrary, I think that such reminders, including better information about how science works, are indispensable to providing precisely the critical tools whose absence you lament. For instance, when the vast majority of scientists treat evolutionary theory as a paradigm of scientific achievement and regard global warming as a well-established phenomenon, yet the "average American" thinks these issues are genuinely open to dispute, I think we clearly have a cultural problem that can be traced in part to a lack of sound education in science and its practice.J P Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10512564931109178915noreply@blogger.com