Asimov’s 1980 essay warns of a cult of ignorance

Asimov’s 1980 – In a short Newsweek essay published on January 21, 1980, Isaac Asimov argued that the United States has long nurtured a “cult of ignorance,” driven not only by education failures but by attitudes toward reading, expertise, and even the idea that democracy mean

By the time Isaac Asimov published his short essay in Newsweek. on January 21. 1980. the United States was already tilting toward what would become a decades-long conservative groundswell. The Republican Party stood at the dawn of the Reagan Revolution. and in the political swirl of that era. Asimov saw a familiar habit taking root: devotion to irrationality.

He did not mince words. “There is a cult of ignorance in the United States. and there always has been. ” Asimov wrote. arguing that it’s kept alive by a counterfeit definition of democratic equality—“my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.” The charge landed as more than rhetoric. It echoed a broader argument circulating in American politics. including remarks by political strategist Steve Schmidt. who has expressed regret about choosing Sarah Palin as John McCain’s running mate in 2008. and who pointed to “intellectual rot” as a primary culprit.

Asimov’s target was not only the present moment. He reached back, taking a swipe at Dwight D. Eisenhower—“who invented a version of the English language that was all his own”—and at George Wallace. Still. one phrase he singled out proved especially enduring: the slogan on the part of the obscurantists—“Don’t trust the experts!”—a line often paired with accusations of “elitism.” Asimov’s point was sharper than it sounded. He noted that the people using that language are frequently themselves experts and elites. “feeling guilty about having gone to school.”.

That guilt, in his telling, feeds political life from the inside out. Asimov suggested that many of the wounds of the American political class are self-inflicted because they are beholden to a largely ignorant electorate. He offered an image of reading ability stripped down to something smaller than literacy and grander than incompetence: “To be sure. the average American can sign his name more or less legibly. and can make out the sports headlines—but how many nonelitist Americans can. without undue difficulty. read as many as a thousand consecutive words of small print. some of which may be trisyllabic?”.

For some readers, the examples didn’t all land cleanly. The claim that road signs “steadily being replaced by little pictures to make them internationally legible” has more to do. as the essay’s critics would say. with linguistic diversity than illiteracy. And the complaint that television commercials speak their messages out loud instead of using printed text on the screen misunderstands what the medium is designed to do. Still. even where the illustrations stumble. the attitude Asimov returns to is consistent: ignorance isn’t just a lack of skill—it’s also a lack of willingness.

He wrote that many Americans are badly educated. but argued the broad ignorance in science. mathematics. economics. and foreign languages has as much to do with Americans’ unwillingness to read as their inability. He framed the problem with a sense of stubborn contradiction: “There are 200 million Americans who have inhabited school-rooms at some time in their lives and who will admit that they know how to read… but most decent periodicals believe they are doing amazingly well if they have circulation of half a million. It may be that only 1 per cent—or less—of Americans make a stab at exercising their right to know. And if they try to do anything on that basis they are quite likely to be accused of being elitists.”.

Asimov’s optimism also invites pushback. He concluded. “We can all be members of the intellectual elite. ” a statement his critics would argue ignores how economic elites can manipulate education policy to suit their interests. Those critics point to ways education funding can be crippled and efforts at free or low cost higher education can be opposed. They also note that major attempts to spread knowledge have often been ad hoc and repeatedly threatened by funding crises and the designs of profiteers—whether that means the Chau­tauquas of the early 20th century. the educational radio programs of the 40s and 50s. or the public television revolution of the 70s and 80s.

And yet, the piece didn’t age only into an argument. The essay’s other premise—about access—has shifted the terrain. The wide availability of free resources on the internet has made self-education a real reality for many people. and for most Americans. But technology has also enabled something darker: bitter polarization and misinformation campaigns. In that light, “A Cult of Ignorance” wasn’t among Asimov’s most popular writings. It was first published on January 21, 1980 in Newsweek, and it has never been reprinted in any of Asimov’s collections.

An earlier version of this post appeared on the site in 2016. preserving the essay’s afterlife long after the culture debate it described moved on. There are also related pieces tied to Asimov’s broader engagement with literature. media. and ideas—he reviewed George Orwell’s Nine­teen Eighty-Four and called it “Not Science Fiction. But a Distorted Nostalgia for a Past that Never Was. ” he predicted the future on The David Letterman Show in 1980. he explained how libraries can radically change your life in 1971. and he predicted in 1964 what the world will look like in 2014.

The contradiction that endures from Asimov’s 1980 warning is simple enough to feel personal: the country has tools for knowing. institutions and media that once tried to teach. and—today—free resources at scale. But the line between curiosity and contempt keeps rewriting itself. just like the slogan keeps returning: Don’t trust the experts.

Isaac Asimov cult of ignorance Newsweek January 21 1980 Reagan Revolution anti-intellectualism intellectual rot Steve Schmidt Sarah Palin John McCain Don’t trust the experts elitism education policy misinformation public television revolution Chau­tauquas