Intellectual Inequality

Howdy from Bend, OR,

Welcome to the 7 new subscribers from last week.

Today we're asking the question - does intellectual inequality exist and, if so, what's causing it?

While on a flight to Iowa this past weekend, I looked around the cabin of the plane.

Almost every single person was connected to the in-flight wifi, watching movies or scrolling social media.

The passenger next to me watched TikToks for 4 hours straight.

It was hard for me to take in, particularly since I am no stranger to doom scrolling.

This isn't a piece slamming folks for watching a good movie or spending time on social media.

I think both are great in moderation when we're intentional about our information diets (more on that at the end), but my experience on the flight got me thinking:

If most folks are choosing cheap content while few challenge themselves to think critically, is there a widening gap in intellectual inequality?

NASA's Webb Telescope delivered the deepest infrared image of the universe yet, and folks turned it into a algorithmic manipulation meme - lol. This image helps me take a step back from the narrow view of social media feeds and appreciate how much more the world (and the universe) has to offer.

Does intellectual inequality exist? If so, what's causing it?

Eric Alterman, a contributer for the New Yorker, published an article in 2019 titled, "The Decline of Historical Thinking."

Alterman states that a sharp decline in history majors (as well as the decline in our understanding of fact vs. fiction) is resulting in increased intellectual inequality.

I agree that intellectual inequality is rising due to our inability to factor in the credibility of a source.

I disagree with Alterman's hypothesis on what's causing it.

Intellectual inequality isn't caused by a shortage of historians.

It's that we lack the ability to pay attention to substantive works, such as those produced by historians.

We could 4x the # of historians and their output, but that doesn't mean the broader population would read their work or care about it despite the fact that their work is meaningful.

In fact, the meaningfulness of their work is the very thing that would likely cause it to be ignored in today's digital media environment.

My hypothesis: digital hyper-consumption, much like I saw on my flight, is what's taking our attention away from what's important and is the cause of increasing intellectual inequality.

Distribution of 4-year degrees awarded over from 2011-2017 (credit: American Historical Association.)

What is digital hyper-consumption, and what are it's effects?

I previously discussed digital hyper-consumption in the Building Online vs. Building Offline newsletter. Here's the definition I used in that piece:

Digital Hyper-Consumption - the same machines that scale our ability to create and learn have hijacked our attention for cheap content & inauthentic community

This is by design. Social media companies optimize for profit by way of 2 key metrics.

1. Retention - whether you come back to the platform

2. Engagement - time spent watching/interacting with content

Click-bait content + context switching = high retention and engagement.

We're highly engaged but not educated.

We're being "social" online, but we spend less time with others in-person.

Here are 3 examples of how this creates a negative impact:

• Instead of engaging with our local civic institutions, we turn a blind eye to the needs of folks down the street and follow the fury and outrage of national politics in our feeds.

• Instead of assessing the plethora of variables that affect our economy, we count on flashy stock tickers and clips constantly casting blame on others for what is or isn't happening in the market.

• Instead of learning about the nuances of cultural differences from in-person conversations with our neighbors, we rely on algorithms to tell us what our cultural fabric is made up of.

These poor intellectual health outcomes are not affected by the number of history majors. They're a direct result of our media consumption.

TikTok has rolled out a feature to encourage folks to take a break from scrolling. I'm not on TikTok, so I can't speak to it's effectiveness, but I'd imagine that it's quite easy to press the "Snooze" button. (Credit: TechCrunch)

Final thought: Don't pin it on the kids. We're all responsible.

In his article, Alterman contrasts the sharp decreases in history majors with the sharp increases in STEM majors.

The study of history is undoubtedly important, but we can't blame people for pursuing high value degrees when we consider rising education costs.

Students know the US will have a strong need for STEM professionals over the next decade.

Increased demand results in increased financial and occupational opportunities, the likely determinant at the forefront of an 18 year-old's mind when selecting a major.

I don't fault current undergrads for increasingly choosing STEM degrees.

I fault all of us for collectively thinking our education is complete when we leave the walls of an institution.

There's hope: remember, the same machines that hijack our attention also allow us to learn, create, and think critically like never before through the scale of the internet.

We need to approach intellectual health from a different perspective by individually asking ourselves, am I refining my information diet online in pursuit of lifelong learning?

Perhaps by answering this question, we can begin to close the intellectual inequality gap.

Employment #'s represented in thousands. I believe the 2029 projections are what is driving the increase in STEM majors, and I don't blame students for moving towards these opportunities. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Photos of The Week

Locations this past week: Portland, OR -flight> Dyersville, IA -flight> Portland, OR -> Bend, OR

Celebrated Grace and Adam at their wedding this past weekend! The Mountain Sky crew rolled deep. Somethin' ab that Mountain Sky magic.

Had the chance to hit batting practice in Dyersville, Iowa where they filmed Field of Dreams. Felt like a kid again. Kevin Costner called. He said I was safe by a mile.

Between Portland and Bend, where the forest meets the plains.

I flew back to Portland late Sunday evening. I had planned to take Monday as a rest day before driving to Bend to see Odesza (one of my fav artists of all time) on Tuesday. I got my dates mixed up. Turns out the concert was Monday evening. I found out 4hrs before the show and drove 3hrs to make it in time.

Made new friends at the concert. S/o to Savannah and Johnathan.

Thanks for reading

What other variables do you think are contributing to intellectual inequality?

Hit the reply button and let me know!

Josh

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