Yeah…he’s worth millions and has a slavishly devoted fanbase but poor guy, some people just won’t accept that he’s also a brilliant iconoclast bucking conventional wisdom, instead thinking he’s acting like a stereotypical jock who let fame and fortune get to his head.
I’m going to lose a lot of sleep over that. Good thing we get an extra hour this weekend. I’ll have to figure out what to do with the other 59 minutes and 59 seconds.
I’m relieved to see this post and article. When I posted in the Jeopardy thread my misgivings about Bialik due to her anti-vaxx* and misogynist victim-blaming, I was the first to do so and got little response. I think most people have heard little about Bialik besides her child star history and her alleged intelligence.
That’s understandable because Bialik makes much of her PhD, and the media tends to lead stories on her with a gee-she’s-smart emphasis on her academic background. How she got a doctorate in neuroscience when she’s clearly ignorant enough to be susceptible to crackpot medical theories is beyond me. Maybe she took a page from Trump’s book, How I Graduated from Wharton.
In that interview, Rodgers quoted MLK Jr. on not having to obey unjust rules.
Aaron is not just a famous athlete, he’s a civil rights icon.
Remember, Quarterbacks’ Lives Matter.
I’m sure “Letter from Green Bay Jail” would become a best seller. I’m glad he’s volunteering to go to jail over this.
Oh wait, he’s just demonstrating more of his ignorance? Too bad
One thing I learned decades ago is a degree, even a PhD and even a PhD in STEM, is no guarantee of intelligence in everything or a barrier to foolish credulity. I’ve met a few ‘high-powered’ researchers I thought, in certain areas at least, were a little dumb. Slow on the uptake in a few cases (smart, but definitely not clever), given to believe loony pet theories in others (over-analysis paired with extreme cherry-picking to validate a particular world view), severely lacking in emotional intelligence/social skills (not at all uncommon in STEM fields actually) or just plain foolish.
Advanced degrees imply a certain ability to both put your nose to the grindstone, study effectively and synthesize information in at least one narrow area. But that’s narrow kind of smart and while many PhD’s are overall pretty bright, some just aren’t.
While I find this incredibly depressing, it makes sense. The stupidest and worst teacher I ever knew–so bad, it was widely acknowledged that students would have been more knowledgeable without taking her (required) class; so bad, she was on a Plan of Improvement three times; so bad, parents were regularly demanding her head–got a doctorate in education.
Thanks for the explanation.
A lot of anti-vaxxers in general are pretty educated. It’s frustrated me for some time. I think maybe there’s something of a Dunning-Krueger effect going on. Or, as the old saying goes, a little learning is a dangerous thing. People who know they’re ignorant may defer to experts, while people who think of themselves as smart and informed, but are really only minimally so in this area, are more likely to “think for themselves” and arrive at the wrong answer. People who are actually very smart and well-informed on the particular subject of immunology are apt to think for themselves and arrive at the right answer. It’s that valley in the middle that causes problems.
I had a friend (maybe friendly acquaintance is closer, but we’ve been over to each other’s homes several times) who was/is very, very smart. A significant researcher is his little specialist discipline. Published a lot of peer-reviewed papers, very curious mind, very capable guy generally. Also sweet as pie. And he is or at least was last I saw him a 9/11 Truther. A left-wing intellectual version - quiet and reasonable-sounding, no waving his hands in the air and ranting. But quite impervious to being reasoned out of his pet delusion, for which he had accumulated an impressive array of left-wing CT media relating to it. Because he is a logical-minded researcher you see.
I still like the guy and would happily hang out with him again if the opportunity ever arose (unlikely). But in that one little corner of his mind he’s a loon.
What separates us from these loony conspiracy theorists? It’s not intelligence or research, apparently. What is it that makes some people buy into the CT nonsense?
ETA: Sorry if this is a hijack. I’m thinking that if I could understand CT’s better, I could understand the vaccine conspiracy theorists better.
I don’t think it is; pretty much every objection to getting the vaccine is rooted in a conspiracy theory somehow.
I sincerely believe that CT believers are just gnostics. They gain a feeling of self-worth through believing themselves superior to the “sheep” around them. They’re part of a special club. And even better, they are now living in a far more exciting world filled with intrigue, shadowy figures, and the fantastic made real.
It’s like playing an alternate reality game, except the alternate reality is your actual reality and instead of a game it’s your life. You’re a brave hero in that world fighting some kind of cartoon evil that other people can’t even see.
I get the appeal honestly. I think it’s sad but I understand. It’s a form of escapism that you never have to give up. That’s why you cling to those beliefs in spite of all evidence showing that it’s BS, or the lack of evidence supporting it. It’s an addiction.
It was when I got to this part that I started laughing uncontrollably. Boy, who better to go to for health advice than a roided up talk show host?
My impression is that credulity and intelligence just are not correlated.
One’s willingness to believe something is usually based in emotion, not intellect.
Sometimes identification with superheroes becomes explicit, as with Kent Heckenlively (a noted antivaxer who co-wrote Plandemic) viewing himself as a figure from Lord of the Rings:
“I tell my son that if someday in the distant future I am not around and he wants to explain to his children or grandchildren what his father hoped to be, he should pop in the DVD and let them view the trilogy.”
“When I watch I…picture myself as Aragon, astride my horse in front of the Black Gate, telling my troops, I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me. A day may come when the courage of men fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship, but it is not this day. An hour of wolves and shattered shields, when the age of men comes crashing down, but it is not this day! This day we fight! Then I jump off my horse, and with the setting sun behind me, a reckless, almost manic glint in my eye and a crooked grin, I am first to charge into the enemy army.”
Far-right cartoonist Ben Garrison* also loves this theme.
*Garrison was in the news recently, suffering from Covid-19 but dutifully self-treating it with ivermectin and beet juice.
**don’t miss Garrison’s cartoon showing Ted Cruz as a valiant superhero, complete with cape.
Being intelligent or well educated does not necessarily give one the ability to think critically. They may read or hear something. Maybe it sort of lines up with their world views. That something is then locked away in the vault of ‘knowledge’ to never be examined again.
NewsMax has issued a vaccine mandate in order to comply with the new Biden Adminstration directive. That’ll be fun.
The woke mob has put another nail in the lid of Aaron Rodgers’ culture coffin.
Rodgers should sue Prevea Health for infringing on his emotional autonomy.
You have to almost admire how consistently hypocritical organizations like Newsmax and Fox News are. They are downright principled in their adherence to hypocritical values.
That’s the Hypocritic Oath I keep hearing about, right?
I agree with you, but I’m still not going harass my aunt and her family about it. I know my aunt – she’s not stupid and she’s fairly blunt. There’s probably a hell of a lot more going on that I don’t know about, and I’m not sticking my nose in – that’s definitely not fair to her. She doesn’t need that kind of stress.
Neither does MY family, for that matter. We just had a bit tornado come through our neck of the woods two weeks ago, and we were one of the ones hit. So we’re dealing with all the clean up and shit, and it’s been pretty hectic. Not exactly a bundle of laughs, you know? 
My house is the green one. If that big tree had gone just a few feet to the left, I probably wouldn’t be here. (Yes, the trees have been removed, but we still can’t use the front door until the porch roof is repaired and the gutters are replaced. Lots of work to do)
So as you can see, bugging my aunt about one a guest at my cousin’s wedding reception is NOT a responsibility I’m ready to take on. It hurts though, to see someone I’ve always cared about become what she is. I know I’m not the only one. I can only imagine how my grandparents would’ve reacted, if they were still here! (My grandmother especially – she was a nurses aid and lost two brothers as a child – one to whooping cough, the other to tetanus)
If our parents ( or grand parents ) were here today? SO many of these A-holes would have their butts kicked…
( My sympathies about your house… )