Are we an anti-intellectual society?

Looking over some of the threads here (the vaccinations thread and not knowing what Auschwitz is) I have to wonder how people can be so ignorant of common knowledge. I'm not saying that the public has to understand the minutia of complex subjects but how can people be so ignorant? It feels like we as a people are asleep at the switch, not bothering to burden ourselves with learning and instead focusing on trivial pleasures.



Am I right or am I over reacting? How did this happen?