Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge. - Isaac Asimov. Isaac Asimov (1920 – 1992) was an American author and professor of biochemistry at Boston University. A prolific author and editor of more than 500 books and 90,000 letters and postcards, his interests ranged from science fiction to popular science to humor, and are listed in nine of the ten major categories of the Dewey Decimal System. Paul Krugman, a Nobel Laureate in Economics, has stated that it was Asimov's concept of psychohistory that inspired him to become an economist. In my opinion , the above quote is one of the most incisive statements Asimov made during his lengthy career. Following are some well-known examples of popular opinions that are contrary to the facts of the situation....
My alarm clock goes off every morning at eight, except for the few times when I have a breakfast date. Usually I wake up about an hour before that, or at least I partly wake up. It is important that I remain in a “not quite awake but not quite asleep” state, because I consider that time as the germination period for whatever seeds happen to have blown into my head.