The Dark Age of Unreason

The Dark Age of Unreason: a call on all academics to act

The academic community should carefully reflect on the political resurrection of Donald Trump and his consequent ascendancy in the American and Global political landscape. This remarkable comeback is the result of the exercise of the democratic will of the citizens of the USA. Democratic rights and the exercise of democratic power should be robustly defended whether we like the outcome or not.

What I do not have to defend though, are the manifestations of unreason and misinformation that have enabled this electoral result. Mainstream media now focuses in the main on the commercial expediencies that will maximise advertising revenues by pandering to sectional interests. Social media, which is in effect, unfettered does not encourage free speech, it further facilitates a new dark age of superstition and disrespect. Free speech is a mode of expression that should be considered, transparent and open to scrutiny and criticism. Free speech is not a right, it is a responsibility and we seem as a society to have forgotten that. This forgetfulness is not just exhibited by one side or another of the political spectrum, it is symptomatic of both and everyone in between.

A confession: this is my fault and the fault of every academic professional. We have done too little and whatever action we take now may be too late to halt a new dark age of unreason.

The rise of populist politics of whatever ideological stamp and the weaponisation of social media for blatant and extreme agendas is not a phenomenon that should be ignored or glossed over by academia. Social and political jurisdictions wherever they are, should be reminded that the wellspring of technological, medical, intellectual, political and social progress (to list but a few) lies in the academy. Conversely, as academics we should be remind ourselves that we do not exist in a hermetically sealed ‘ivory tower’, we cannot stand aside from society at large. Act we must.

Any call to act must be accompanied with suggestions for how and when. The when is obvious, it is now. The how, is wider than you might think.

The core of academia must assert itself with a loud and escalating voice. At every opportunity and at all times assert the centrality of reason and rational discourse. A discourse based on critical awareness must be relentlessly and ruthlessly extolled and promulgated and extolled. The common self-reflecting practices common across all disciplines in the academy that encourage rationality and reason must now regain its primacy in our social discourse. It is the responsibility of every academic to do this. Formally, informally, in private, in public the message must be delivered by every single one of us.? Social media should be re-colonised by academics and the morass of material based on poor reasoning and intuitive opinion must be challenged. It is a thankless task and one which will attract opprobrium and criticism. But the more that engage the greater the eventual impact will be. In wider social activity the time for self-effacing modesty is over. At the risk of unpopularity, poorly held beliefs based on structures of prejudice and opinion must, in whatever arena, be challenged. For some this will be uncomfortable and for some dangerous. ?But the privilege of belonging to the academic community, undervalued by most and scorned by some, is nevertheless an opportunity afforded only to a few.

There are specific elements of the academy, of academia, that need a proactive, stout and merciless defence. Culture warriors with their endless criticisms of “woke” and “politically correct” practices must be exposed as enemies of tolerance and good manners. Decency dies when the decent stay silent. The common trick used in much of the “popular” media is to generalise from a few extreme examples and stigmatise an entire community. This exceptionalism must be exposed for what it is, laziness in the service of ignorance. As mentioned above the critical importance of an independent and self-confident academic community is that it is the core of modern society. The wider community must be reminded of this. If progress, technological or otherwise, is subsumed by narrow social, commercial and political interests, we will all lose the wider utilitarian benefits of intellectual and conceptual progress. I will repeat, the contemporary world for all its faults and for all its benefits is largely due to academic effort and insight. This is inescapable. Relentlessly and ruthlessly, all must be reminded that it is only through the carefully curated process of academic practice that tangible progress is made on the expansion of human knowledge. It is painfully slow, it is often wrong and almost never acted upon in full, but it is all that we have to push back the dark boundaries of ignorance and unknowing.

This alone is not enough; the academy must expose the fallacious and the facile in a general media that is governed only by narrow interests whether these are commercial or ideological. Too many believe opinion to be facts and this fallacy must be exposed. The malaise of unquestioning unknowing runs even deeper. Conspiracy theorists abound and their followers degrade and debase public discourse pushing against the frontiers of knowledge with tautological reasoning and misinformation. The egregious reach of this is pernicious and creates illusory arguments that masquerade as expertise. As academics we cannot allow this to go unchecked.

Who in our community should do this? As I have said, all of us. But the greatest burden must be assumed by the leaders and managers of academic institutions. They must stand up and be counted. The excuse of expediency is over. The barbarians are now longer at the gate they are inside the walls. The voices of the leaders of academic institutions must now be strident and clear. They must not be silent and they must challenge wherever it is found the expediency of tautology and social ignorance. As for the rest of us the burdens of involvement in as many discourses as is possible must start now.

My personal arena in which I will struggle lies in the realm of the vast re-branding exercise that is called “Artificial Intelligence”. There is a great deal of excellent work that is being carried out into the nature of and the expansion of technologies that enhance human cognitive reach. However, much is made of technologies that simply obscure ethical constraints and abrogate human agency and responsibility. I will engage where I can and expose illusory claims where I must. I will be criticised and ridiculed but I will nevertheless engage.

To those of you who are already engaged in the good fight, I apologise and salute you. To those who have not, please be assured that I do not claim to have a moral high ground and I am shamed by my own inaction.

I have chosen my battle, now choose yours.