Curb anti-intellectualism in cyberspace

People need to leave their comfort zones and wrestle with difficult concepts if they want to grow and learn. They should stop giving experts nicknames and dismissing their opinions out of hand, and stop applying the stigmatizing label "public intellectual", while ignoring what they can contribute.

The rampant anti-intellectualism we can now see in Chinese cyberspace is something to be ashamed of. If you disagree with some expert opinions, fine, do so agreeably and argue with reason and evidence. Unhappy with the way some experts do their work? Help fix it.

By no means should one collapse into bitterness and helplessness as a way to punish a handful of experts who have disappointed us. Instead, hold them accountable, so they do a better job, while achieving personal growth by embracing perspectives that are challenging. Educated people are, after all, ones who have cultivated the lifelong habit of growth, which will eventually expand the boundaries of comfort zones.

Such a change of culture cannot be implemented through government regulations. How can you prevent people from saying something totally wrong about parenting, for instance? Let's start from the obvious: by respecting people who know what they say. Maybe we can enlighten ourselves and others while listening to them.

The author is a US-based instructional designer, literary translator and columnist writing on cross-cultural issues.