The Growing Danger of Being Well-Informed

It is probably getting dangerous to be clever, particularly in a world where independent thought, intellectual curiosity, and the unfortunate habit of noticing contradictions are increasingly treated as social liabilities rather than useful human capacities. Wilful ignorance has become so well organised, politically connected, and commercially profitable that independent thought is beginning to look like a security risk. Asking sensible questions is increasingly suspicious, while confidently repeating nonsense remains an excellent career strategy. Perhaps I should abandon philosophy and take up blogging about embroidery. Although, knowing my luck, I would eventually discover some disturbing structural relationship between cross-stitch, authoritarianism, and the collapse of Western civilisation.