John Hinderaker:
As far as elite universities are concerned, another factor is at work. Their entire identity is bound up with considering themselves to be smarter than other Americans. That inherently inclines them to adopt minority views.
If you think America is a pretty terrific place, and men and women are different in ways that people have understood for thousands of years, and a productive society like Israel’s is better than a sick, terrorist society like Gaza’s, and people should be able to say pretty much whatever they think, and we ought to be grateful to the police for protecting us from criminals, and so on, then how are you any different from the average guy? How are you manifesting your superior intellect?
Of course, you might do this by mastering difficult technical skills or by a deep knowledge of history, literature or philosophy, but those paths are chosen by only a few. Nowadays, students can get As as long as they remember to show up for the tests. A sense of superiority is easily obtained, but it requires adherence to views that are different from those of the masses.
# posted by Ranger @ 8:30 PM
