A study published by EBSCO defined anti-intellectualism as, “a skepticism or disdain for intellectual thought and those who embody it, often manifesting as a belief that educated individuals and critical thinking are out of touch with everyday life”.
This study outlines that anti-intellectuals believe that scholars and academics are out of touch with the problems of everyday citizens. Thus, anti-intellectuals are suspicious and apprehensive about higher education as well as subject-matter experts.
This phenomenon could be due to epistemic hubris, or when an individual feels confident that their viewpoint is the sole legitimate angle from which to perceive topics. The rise of anti-intellectualism is a concern because it can lead to disengaged students, the spread of misinformation, and public distrust of professionals.
According to the Pew Research Center, 47% of Americans think that scientists feel superior to others. This distrust in experts is even more blatant when comparing party affiliation. For instance, the Pew Research Center found that “80% of Democrats view research scientists as honest, compared with 52% of Republicans”.
The contemporary rise of anti-intellectualism could be attributed to social media, insufficient funding for the public education system, and the growth of alt-right extremist movements.
According to the National Literacy Institute’s 2024 Literacy Statistics, 21% of adults in the United States are illiterate, and 54% of US adults have below a 6th-grade literacy level. These statistics represent a concerning trend that illustrates the faults of the education system and contributes to anti-intellectual thinking.
In a study conducted by Naomi Hill, researchers created a survey on American fears, which aimed to measure American citizens’ trust, or lack of it, in science. The 36 questions on the survey were representative of three categories: climate change, health and safety responses during the COVID-19 pandemic, and vaccinations.
The overall consensus of this study was that political ideologies are a determining factor in adjudicating whether someone holds an anti-intellectual outlook. “Across all six dependent variables, the coefficients for political party were significant, meaning that one’s political party was a significant predictor of their attitudes and beliefs, no matter what topic they were asked about,” the study reported. Considering this information, high amounts of social media consumption can be a contributing factor to the spread of anti-intellectualism, particularly if that media aligns with political opinions.
The growth of anti-intellectualism and alternative ways to consume news additionally contributes to the spread of misinformation and exploits the lack of media literacy skills.
The accessibility of social media can distract people from getting information from credible news sources. Moreover, due to the social media industry’s influence, information advances rapidly, whether or not the content is factual. The Pew Research Center found that “nearly two-thirds of alternative social media news consumers (64%) favor the protection of free speech even if it brings with it some false content”.
Additionally, another study conducted by the Pew Research Center reported that 63% of Americans say they are skeptical of news media, while 36% of Americans say that they trust the news media. This lack of trust in news outlets has further influenced the growth of alternative news sources and the consumption of news from social media platforms.
The Center for Strategic and International Studies found that “right-wing extremists are increasingly using the internet and social media to issue propaganda statements, coordinate training (including combat training), organize travel to attend protests and other events, raise funds, recruit members, and communicate with others”.
The rise of conspiratorial thinking and movements on social media has enabled these extremists to spread their ideologies. These spaces on social media serve as unregulated echo chambers that further the alt-right pipeline.
“The rise of major social media platforms like Facebook and YouTube also played a substantial role in the spread of extremist ideas,” the Anti-Defamation League’s 2023 report states. “The surge that started in 2008 primarily affected anti-government extremists rather than white supremacists, but in 2015 the rise of the alt-right gave the white supremacist movement its own surge, bringing the largest influx of new recruits to the white supremacist movement in more than 20 years”.
The rise of anti-intellectualism is impacted by a myriad of interconnected factors, and if this epidemic is not nationally mitigated, our democracy will continually be harmed.
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