You don’t have to be a member of Mensa to see the value of critical thinking.
It’s one thing to disagree with someone’s opinion, but it’s entirely another to start dismissing science, education, and basic facts because they don’t match your worldview. In the US, a growing wave of anti-intellectualism is pushing back against expertise, research, and even common knowledge. It’s more than just cultural tension—it’s shaping policy, fuelling distrust, and opening the door to something far more dangerous. Here’s what’s really going on, and why it matters even here in the UK.
Experts are being framed as “the enemy.”
In certain political circles, experts aren’t just questioned—they’re painted as manipulative elites who want to control you. Scientists, doctors, historians, and academics are regularly dismissed as “out of touch” or part of some vague agenda. It’s become trendy to treat knowledge as suspicious if it doesn’t align with a particular ideology.
This doesn’t just harm those individuals—it destroys public trust in facts altogether. When people start believing that every qualified opinion is secretly biased, it gets harder and harder to have a shared reality. That’s how conspiracy thinking creeps into the mainstream.
Universities are under major attack.
Higher education used to be seen as a cornerstone of progress. Now, it’s often branded as a breeding ground for “woke nonsense” or political indoctrination. In the US, universities are facing budget cuts, curriculum restrictions, and public smearing, often from people in power.
It’s not about healthy critique. It’s about silencing uncomfortable truths, rewriting history, and making sure future generations aren’t encouraged to think critically. When education becomes a target, democracy usually starts wobbling not far behind.
Pop culture celebrates being anti-smart.
There’s been a cultural shift where being “real” is seen as better than being knowledgeable. You’re more relatable if you say what you feel instead of what you know. Politicians lean into this too, rejecting evidence in favour of gut instinct and treating credentials like a red flag.
This isn’t about making things accessible. It’s about actively rejecting learning, nuance, and expertise in favour of surface-level takes. The problem? A lot of complex issues—healthcare, the environment, the economy—can’t be solved with vibes alone.
Anti-science views are making life harder.
The effects of this trend are showing up everywhere. Climate warnings get brushed off. Public health advice is treated like a personal insult. Misinformation spreads faster than fact-checking ever could. When expertise is dismissed, good decision-making goes out the window.
This doesn’t just affect policy—it affects real people. Refusing vaccines, ignoring environmental science, or discrediting mental health professionals leads to worse outcomes for everyone, not just the people who reject the advice.
People are choosing certainty over curiosity.
One reason anti-intellectualism has taken off is that it offers a kind of emotional safety. If you already “know” what’s true, you don’t have to question anything. You don’t have to be uncomfortable, admit gaps in your knowledge, or engage with unfamiliar ideas.
The problem is, that kind of false certainty is dangerous. Real progress comes from asking questions, challenging assumptions, and staying open to being wrong. When people shut that down in favour of simple answers, we all lose something vital.
This mirrors worrying moments in history.
Academics and historians have pointed out that this isn’t new. Authoritarian movements in the past have often started by discrediting experts, restricting education, and encouraging blind loyalty. It creates a population that’s easier to manipulate and harder to inform.
Recently, over 400 intellectuals—including Nobel Prize winners—signed an open warning about the erosion of academic freedom in the US. They’re not being dramatic. They’re seeing patterns repeat themselves, and they’re scared for good reason.
Media platforms are part of the problem.
News outlets and social media are full of false equivalencies. They’ll give a platform to conspiracy theorists “for balance” or treat misinformation like just another opinion. It keeps audiences engaged, but it also muddies the waters completely. People can’t tell what’s true anymore, and that confusion is being exploited. When fact and fiction are given equal airtime, people default to whatever makes them feel better, not what actually helps them understand the world.
Academic research is losing independence.
More and more, research funding is being tied to political or corporate interests. If you study something controversial, or even just inconvenient, you risk having your work shut down or defunded. This isn’t how science is supposed to work. Genuine progress relies on asking difficult questions, even if the answers challenge the status quo. When funding bodies and governments start deciding which truths are allowed, we move away from real discovery and closer to curated reality.
It’s putting democracy at risk.
At its core, democracy depends on an informed public. If people can’t access reliable information, or are trained to distrust it, then democratic choices aren’t really being made with understanding. They’re being made through emotion, manipulation, or fear.
Anti-intellectualism turns voters against experts, discredits watchdogs, and undermines accountability. It makes it easier for bad actors to operate without scrutiny because they’ve already convinced half the public that scrutiny is a scam.
What can be done about it?
There’s no quick fix, but it starts with choosing curiosity over defensiveness. Ask more questions. Listen to people who’ve spent years studying a topic. Look for sources that challenge your view rather than just confirm it.
And support the people trying to keep facts alive—whether that’s teachers, researchers, journalists, or even the quiet nerds explaining things clearly online. Intellectualism isn’t about being clever. It’s about being thoughtful. And right now, we need a lot more of that.
