You ever read a quote and feel personally attacked by how spot-on it is?
“When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent.”
—Isaac Asimov
Yeah. That one hit me like a rogue shopping cart in a Walmart parking lot. Full force, no warning, and possibly carrying a six-pack of Mountain Dew and a tattered American flag.
I’ve always admired Asimov for being this beautifully brainy sci-fi sage with a thousand IQ points and an eyebrow permanently raised at humanity’s messes. But this quote? This quote feels like he time-traveled straight into 2025, took one look around, muttered “Oh hell no,” and zipped right back to his typewriter in the ‘80s to warn us.
Let’s talk about it.
So here we are, in a world where yelling conspiracy theories at a school board meeting gets you applause, but citing peer-reviewed research gets you side-eyes and possibly a restraining order from your cousin. (You know the one. Everyone has that cousin.)
I don’t know when intelligence started to feel like a threat to people, but it’s like somewhere along the line, critical thinking got replaced by TikTok rants filmed from the driver’s seat of a pickup truck. And heaven forbid you say anything nuanced—anything that involves maybe two thoughts existing in the same brain at once. Nope. That’s dangerous. That’s unpatriotic. That’s—gasp—elitist.
It’s like we’ve collectively decided that knowing stuff is suspicious. Scientists? Lying to you.
Historians? Probably part of the deep state.
Teachers? Indoctrinators.
Librarians? Literal witches.
Meanwhile, if you scream “FREEDOM” while waving a Don’t Tread on Me flag you bought on Amazon, you’re suddenly a national treasure. A bold thinker. A patriot. A “real American.” (Whatever that even means these days.)
I don’t know, friends. I love this country. I really do. But I’m tired of watching intelligence be treated like a liability. Like asking questions, changing your mind, or—god forbid—admitting you were wrong is somehow un-American.
Wanting kids to learn real history? Shouldn’t be controversial.
Supporting science? Not an act of war.
Not wanting to die in a climate apocalypse? Honestly feels kind of reasonable?
Anyway, Asimov nailed it. He saw this coming decades ago, and now we’re living in his “I told you so” moment. It’s not fun. But it is weirdly validating?
So what do we do?
We stay smart.
We stay curious.
We ask questions, even when it’s uncomfortable.
And when someone tells us that intelligence is the enemy, we remind them—gently, if we can, bluntly if we must—that loving your country doesn’t mean turning your brain off.
It means wanting better. For everyone.