The Problem with Stupid: ignorance, intellectuals, post-truth and resistance

In  the past two decades, the rise of a particular commonplace in public  debate has emerged on both the Left and the Right: the threat of 'the  stupid.' Far from a throwaway ad hominem, stupidity has become a key  trope for both explaining and criticising the election results, culture  wars and the advances of post-truth. But how do we negotiate 'the  stupid' in a meaningful way? Does critique and resistance depend on the  mobilisation of intellect, and what does the prevalence of stupidity as a  commonplace suggest about the risks of such a mobilisation? What are  the resources to work through it outside of condemnation or insult?  Taking 'the stupid' as a primary figure in today's cultural rhetoric,  Tom Grimwood uses internet memes, film and media, alongside  philosophical inquiry, to present a series of interventions in the  assumptions of what makes 'the stupid' dangerous and how to move beyond  these assumptions into effective resistance.