Over the last few months I’ve written about the detriments surrounding the current political sphere, how this election cycle, and the years leading up to it, have shaped a potential future from bright to bleak. Don’t get me wrong, I’m no pessimist and am still very optimistic about the direction of our country, but today I’d like to discuss another very dangerous element that has begun to creep into the vein of political rhetoric, that is the rise of anti-intellectualism. How feelings Trump (get it) facts, and intelligence is ridiculed and undervalued.

Let’s start at the Republican National Convention (RNC). Years ago the RNC featured intelligent dialogue, supported by facts and statistics; in years past the debate wasn’t about what the problems were, but rather how to fix them. However, this year featured speakers Paul Ryan, Newt Gingrich, and Rudy Giuliani, as well as the celebrity star power of Antonio Sabato Jr. and Scott Baio (if you haven’t heard of them, that’s the joke). All of these speakers focused on one thing (as well covered by John Oliver), feelings. During his Mussolini-esk shout fest Rudy Giuliani said, “The vast majority of American’s do not feel safe.” Paul Ryan, the 'voice of reason' within the Republican party, said, “The whole economy feels stuck.” Now, these types of claims shouldn't create a gaping problem. Sure, focusing on feeling shifts the question away from facts and toward illegitimate claims, but that’s why there's organizations and news outlets to fact check and balance the scales; organizations to keep the public informed and hold politicians accountable, right? Unfortunately, the heart of the intellectual rejection problem comes in the dismissal of studies, statistics, and imperial evidence in favor of these antidotes and feelings. Just watch as Republican figurehead Newt Gingrich discusses violent crime:

A key quote to keep in mind, “Liberals have a whole set of statistics that theoretically may be right but it’s not where human beings are…as a political candidate I’ll go with what people feel, and you can go with the theoriticians.” This interview shows the dangerous shift that goes beyond just valuing feelings, it shows the straight trivialization and rejection of facts. The point at which people start believing that numbers and facts are just a way to trick them is the point at which people can say whatever they want, no matter how false, without fear of repercussions. Make no mistake, Newt is wrong. FBI statistics show that crime and violent crime are at historically low rates, and on balance major cities aren’t excluded from this trend, there are a select few cities that Gingrich points to in antidotal fashion are exceptions to the data, in which he uses to say, “Look, the numbers aren’t right, you and your family are in danger.”

If people don’t care about numbers, then decisions are based in visceral emotion, a state which is not often associated with objective and effective decision making. Although an observation from me, don’t just take my word for it, at the start of this election season Psychology Today discussed the fall of intellectualism, and the problem that creates in society. They said, “What Americans rarely acknowledge is that many of their social problems are rooted in the rejection of critical thinking or, conversely, the glorification of the emotional and irrational.” In order to think critically about issues, to find real solutions to problems that seem to keep recreating themselves, American’s must be informed and they must accept facts as facts, not sorcery from the opposite political party trying to trick them.

Here’s a few things that are facts (if you didn’t know you can click on the blue words for links to see proof) Pokémon Go is popular, Barrack Obama is the president of the United States, the world’s climate is getting warmer, crime in the US is down, the US economy is up, the US military is the most powerful in the world, although shrinking there's a gender pay gap, there is wealth stratification in the US, immigration including illegal immigration helps the economy, Marijuana kills less than hard pain medication, and Donald Trump is pro-Russia.

What’s the impact of disregarding facts in lieu of feelings? For one, a Trump presidency, where enough bad things could occur to make it a discussion for another time. But on a much broader scale than that, if this trend of anti-intellectualism continues to its logical end, we lose the ability to interrogate issues on a critical level, we burn scientists at the stake as heretics, and tell people with college degrees that they wasted their time. Intellect isn’t to be belittled, it’s to be praised as something to strive for because everyone can be informed. Don’t fall into the Gingrich pit, keep learning, keep reading, reject politicians that want you to act out of fear, evaluate trends before acting based on a single story, and help shape a better future that finds solutions rather than more problems.