Note this isn’t entirely people’s fault anymore, algorithms pick the influencer before the person does.
They could absolutely be trained to pick the intellectual instead, but… why would they do that? It would cost them short term engagement, e.g., profit.
Parasocial relationships make you believe the bullshitter is more reliable
“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.”
— Issac Asimov
I noticed this myself as a teenager, with of all things, the popularity of Jeff Foxworthy and his whole “redneck” shtick. He glorified idiocracy and people reveled in being uneducated and just ignorant of everything. They would proudly wear shirts (or other merch) proclaiming it.
And I know it’s not the thing that turned the US towards anti-intellectualism, but it’s a time that sticks out to me still as something I can look back at as a visible manifestation of that shift.
Larry The Cable Guy was the even weirder part. It’s a character he plays with a fake accent, making fun of rednecks. Yet the rednecks were the people who loved it.
IDK it’s like if the biggest fans of The Jazz Singer were black, or if the biggest fans of Borat were native Kazakhs. Groups are rarely happy with being depicted as a caricature played by a foreigner.
Is that who said it? It’s at the start of a song I listen to and I never bothered to look it up.
True, but also, people who are very good at research often aren’t charismatic or lack the communication skills to explain their results to laymen. That’s why, when Neil Degrasse Tyson gets interviewed, he’ll talk about everything from climate change to evolution; he’s not an interdisciplinary genius, but he’s charming and able to explain complex topics in simple terms.
The intellectual wants to uplift society as a whole.
The influencer wants the adoration of the masses.
Both are useful idiots to those who look to be in charge.
