Summary Of Ray Williams Anti Intellectualism

In the article “Anti-Intellectualism and the ‘Dumbing Down’ of America,” Ray Williams draws attention to a very pressing and controversial idea, the anti-intellectual ignorance of modern American culture. Williams claims that Americans have developed a caustic standard of entitlement without representation. This political and social issue has only been worsened by the age of modern technology and social media. While less than 40% of Americans under the age of 44 have not read a book on their own in the past year, media today has allowed for Americans to lose their all to important intellectual integrity. New York Times claims that the new elite of America is those who can shout the loudest on social media. America’s society has lost its reason, and it is a problem that needs to be made a priority to solve. The article contains many sources that support the authors claim. The consensus among these statements is that our lack of intelligence is centered around media. They state that news today has shifted its focus from content that showcases the positives of society, to the events and individuals who represent issues and deficits. The focus around Hollywood and rampant political figures has clouded our minds and distracted from positive, smart progress. It is especially unfortunate that even with superior technological
advancements and phenomenal levels of resources, our society has been able to slow the progress of our people through media. The article also makes strong connections to the recent but dramatic changes from social media.
Though an extremely new medium, social media has seemed to completely alter the way Americans think, especially among the Millennial generation. It is another perfect example of how our lack of sense and reason has transformed something that was designed to increase our social capabilities into a way to rant, boast, and bully. Instead of using social media to communicate and connect positively, our society has used it to create countless issues and distractions that only deter and detract from developing our social
capacity. In the New York Times, Bill Keller writes, “Fashion, entertainment, spectacle, voyeurism – we’re directed towards trivia, towards the inconsequential, towards unquestioning and blatant consumerism. This results in intellectual complacency. People accept without questioning, believe without weighing the choices, join the pack because in a culture where convenience rules, real individualism is too hard work.” Americans have slowly been drawn away from the things in the world that are important. It has been supplemented with content that blurs our reasoning. Unless our society makes a conscious and intentional effort to shift our focus, media is destined to nullify our capabilities as a complex, intelligent species.

Williams, Ray. "Anti-Intellectualism and the "Dumbing Down" of America." Wired for Success. N.p., 7 July 2014.