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.
–Isaac Asimov
I had almost given up writing. It’s not that I don’t have anything to write about – I have half a dozen posts lingering in various stages of draft. It’s just that recently, I feel like all I’m doing is adding to the clamour of the online outrage machine by drawing attention to specific incidents in a world that has gone completely mad.
It’s not just that the so-called leaders of the world want us to believe that wrong is right, compassion is weakness, that imbecility and ignorance are preferable to sanity and knowledge. It’s simply astonishing, so many people agree. If only we could grab them by the ears and lead them to objective truth, empathy, and common decency.
But, as a famous teacher once said: “It’s easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle…”
At this point, you must be wondering what I’m banging on about. Have I lost my marbles? Well, not quite, but something happened yesterday that lifted my spirits somewhat and gave me a newfound urge to keep writing after I read a Twitter (X) post that turned out to be comedic gold. Now, I have often contemplated deleting my Twitter account, especially recently, because of Elon Musk’s ongoing efforts to manipulate the truth and alter reality on the platform.
Grok, the platform’s AI, has been exposed on previous occasions for providing blatantly false information. Still, Musk’s latest programming tweaks have refashioned it into his personal online sycophant, showering him with unabashedly fictitious praise. It’s bad enough that AI is being abused to create all sorts of fake online content, especially videos. Still, it could now be used to render the internet completely unusable, except for the corrupt billionaire class to pursue their nefarious ends.
However, I digress. It seems that Twitter (X) has at least one redeeming quality: It can force you to laugh at all the absurdity, and not just out of sheer derision, but with satisfaction too. Yesterday, I was directed to an account owned by Brian Krassenstein, who posted this howler on Wednesday. What followed was an ocean of hate, hilarity and hubris.
By the time I became aware of the post, the wave of comical ignorance and base hatred playing out on the platform was just about over. Still, I confess to spending more time reading the responses on this one post than I have spent altogether on X since signing up a year and a half ago. At the time of writing, the post in question had 17.4 million views, 105,000 likes, and 33.9 thousand responses.
The online troll (joke) Krassenstein is referencing about Arabic numerals first surfaced around a decade and a half ago. However, it seems that, over all that time, many Americans have either still not cottoned on or remain blissfully ignorant about the numerical system they use daily, or still allow hatred to drive how they respond to perceived persecution.
This arrogant account holder, for one, believes he didn’t need Arabic numerals his entire life, and, judging by his admission, has been keeping really poor company that whole time.
For those who have resisted the urge to create an account on Twitter (X) and expose themselves to the cesspool of egregious hate, lies and stupidity that characterises this platform, I am posting a few responses here so you can continue to maintain that integrity.
I found these to be full of genuine ignorance. Nothing, a little grab of the lug won’t fix, although how the owner of the first account was elected to oversee a School Board is anyone’s guess.
The following responses smacked of hate and most likely belong to MAGA acolytes; you know, the kind that’s responsible for returning the pu$$y grabber to the highest office.
Then there was the Islamophobe who decided to make that perfectly clear.
Meanwhile, Krassenstein tried valiantly to respond to every comment, but after a while, he stopped, overwhelmed by the ignorance, hatred and downright stupidity. Still, others spotted the troll and posted often scathing remarks about Americans and their education system.
While Twitter (X) is seen as a valuable tool for many to vent misplaced anger and outrage, it also exposes their bigotry. I have to admit that I have occasionally let my anger spill onto the platform, but in my defence, it was about humanitarian concerns. I am therefore holding off deleting my account… for the present.
lenny unencumbered 