From anti Intellectualism to Ideocracy

         From anti Intellectualism to Ideocracy

	Talent hits a target no one else can hit; Genius hits a target no one else can see.
Arthur Schophenheur

                        I started questioning the whole education system when I graduated from school. Being in the top brass, filtered through education system and yet no guarantee to have a successful life as a professional. I thought there must be something wrong with the whole idea of being successful or not. I started studying various aspects of education system and found it its not the education system which is at fault, it is the society Anti – Intellectualism which is responsible.

                       Consider a society Power Pyramid, and you will be surprised to know that doctors, engineers, artists and other higher IQ professionals represent the lower 1/3 of the pyramid. Society as a whole on a global scale is promoting Ideocracy; natural selection is working in a wrong direction. A society where muscle is mightier than brains.

                      I still remember an interview of one of the celebrity of lollywood famous for her language skills mentioned different film stars as National Heroes and we all enjoyed this joke but then I realized, she was right, that’s what we meant by heroes on a social scale .I asked many of the students in high schools about their heroes or favorite personalities and everyone wanted to be a sports legend like Afridi or the Captain or a film star. A society where achievement of cricket team is a source of National pride instead of remarkable achievements of the greatest physicists. None of us can name 10 countrymen with great achievements in the field of Science and health but can name at least, many more which have more influence on society in other fields.

                 Although I am not a big fan of Mughal Empire but I remember a council made by Emperor Akbar: Nine intellectuals from the field of Science, Arts, Literature and warfare. Probably it was his love for intellectualism, which made him the greatest Mughal Emperor

                I have listened to the speeches of all political leaders and they address different issues but no one has brought the issue of brain drain to the light.  No one is sensing the upcoming fear of a society, which will be result of all the intellect brain drainage, but then I realized they shouldn’t be afraid because our society has become Anti – Intellectual society where Ideocracy is the tool to control the masses and to fulfill the desire of unchallenged power.

             Intellectuals by definition are people who take ideas seriously for their own sake. Whether or not a theory is true or false is important to them independently of any practical applications it may have. [Intellectuals] have, an attitude to ideas that is at once playful and pious. But in the radical movement, the intellectual ideal of knowledge for its own sake is rejected. Knowledge is seen as valuable only as a basis for action, and it is not even very valuable there. Far more important than what one knows is how one feels. Critics have suggested that contemporary youth culture is a commercial form of anti-intellectualism orienting adherents to consumerism. The advertising business transformed adolescents language, thought, and action (cliques, fashion , fads ) into commodities, and thus engendered a generation of intellectually disengaged youth uninterested in progressing to adulthood

                 If we look at all the problems we are facing as a Nation, from poverty to terrorism, from oppression to imperialism, they are direct result of our Anti – Intellectual behavior, leading to a society where Ideocracy is the power and answer to all issues. So it is high time to start recognizing our true heroes may be within the country or left due to rejection by the society. We need to build a society based upon reasoning and insight so that we can face tomorrow and become someone in the world of no one as a Nation.

Pakistani Zindabad