What We Need Now Is Intellectual Bravery
The Intellectual Cowards are Running the Ship, and they Shouldn't Be. Wait until you read this resignation letter!
As a reader, I subscribe to so many Substacks that it was sort of getting to be burdensome keeping track of them all. But then I realized why I did it. Not just for the intelligent, honest, well written thoughts and different perspectives in the articles, but also for the comment section.
The comment section on Substack is my favorite social media experience. The topic is usually about the article, usually with other cerebral people who are trying to understand the actual topic better, and it is a bonus that you are not usually talking to a bot or AI like you might be on let’s say… Twitter. On Substack, the comment section is largely real people. And even better - you often get to interact with the author. That’s unique!
Today in Michael Shellenberger’s comment section was this gem, left anonymously. I would encourage this person to write their own Substack because I want to hear more of what they have to say. And I shared this with someone else and they said that exact same thing. This was the comment on Substack today that I found to be so profound, on how ideology is ruining free thought:
Ideology is the opposite of thought.
It is more often used to prevent or deflect thought; it is like getting a list of answers for a test and memorizing all the answers but ignoring the questions, and refusing to change the answers even when the questions change.
And even worse: once a critical mass of people have adopted an ideology and made it an essential part of their public identity, the ideology becomes like a castle that needs defending from invaders, the content and veracity of the ideology become secondary to enforcing it and attacking anyone who opposes it.
We know we live in an age of ideological capture because our supposed scholars dedicated to neutral inquiry have all the same answers to every question and seem allergic to independent thought; our supposed journalists know their job isn't to question or inform but to propagate the ideology and denounce or silence dissenters; and our politicians (at least those whose careers are built upon the reigning ideology) insist on implementing their program no matter the facts or consequences.
"An idea is something you have—an ideology is something that has you." Morris Berman'
There is no place this is more obvious than in some of the classrooms of today. We have allowed ideology to creep in and take the place of free thought. It has been allowed to do this because of intellectual cowards failing to stand up to the truth. They subvert the truth simply to fit in with the cultural peer pressure around them - even if they know deep down it doesn’t sit right with them.
The world would be a better place if more people started being intellectually brave. We should all be celebrating intellectual bravery and be calling out the intellectual cowards as we see them.
Today I read a resignation letter from a teacher in a large northern city who did just that. It was refreshing to see her intellectual bravery, and it was inspiring, making me contemplate how I could be braver in my own vulnerable stances.
Make no mistake…. this teacher had a lot to lose. We had a phone conversation earlier today. She has an infant child to feed and bills to pay just like the rest of us. But she has a code. She lived by that code with honor, and stood up while everyone else around her was bending with the winds of ideology and cultural peer pressure. In my eyes she is a brave warrior.
She published her letter here. This letter is a must read.
Here is an additional link to her letter if you also want to be inspired to be braver in your everyday life like we were: https://coachraptor.substack.com/p/letter-of-resignation/comments
Thanks for reading!
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About the author:
Josh R. Ketry - Strategy and Systems Director - is an advocate for freedom, human growth, and human potential. A Brazilian Jiu Jitsu blackbelt and Academy owner. Growth Mindset student (for life). Entrepreneur. Writer. Philosophy fan. Long-time carnivore diet practitioner for autoimmune issues. Birder. Muskie fisherman. Photographer. No topic off limits. Thank you for reading!
The resignation letter is a definite must read.
I like how she pointed out the absurdity of trying to teach 30 people in a single class. This has never worked and will never work because learning is by nature individualized. We need to return to the old model of independent study guided by a tutor. It's more expensive, but it produces vastly superior results.