David Gelernter, one of the pioneers of modern computing, is being eyed for the position of science adviser in Donald Trump’s administration.
Gelernter is well-regarded for his pioneering work in parallel computation, which allows for processors to perform multiple simultaneous calculations—the basis of every modern CPU. Press secretary Sean Spicer says that Gelernter met with the President-elect this past week.
In covering Gelernter’s potential role in the administration, the Washington Post described the computer scientist as “fiercely anti-intellectual,” criticizing his opposition to progressive politics – essentially condemning him for wrongthink.
Although the article points out his development of Linda, the programming language that enabled parallel computing, as well as his research into artificial intelligence, the piece falls short of celebrating his work and instead terms him “anti-intellectual” for his skepticism over man-made climate change.
Gelernter was one of the Unabomber Ted Kaczynski’s targets, and was seriously injured by a letter bomb sent to him in 1993.
Kaczynski’s hatred of technology led him to terrorize members of the scientific and tech communities. The experience caused Gelernter to pursue broader subjects, and allowed him to make a name for himself as a critic of modern, progressive academia.
In his 2013 book, America-Lite: How Imperial Academia Dismantled Our Culture Gelernter criticized “post-religious globalist intellectuals” for dismantling what he saw as the traditional values that allowed the field of computing to grow in the first place.
He stated pointedly that post-modernists “can’t run their own universities or scholarly fields, but are very sure they can run you.”
A description for his book reads:
Imperial academics live in a world of theory; they preach disdain for mere facts and for old-fashioned fact-based judgments like true or false. Schoolchildren are routinely taught theories about history instead of actual history—they learn, for example, that all nations are equally nice except for America, which is nearly always nasty.
Late last year, Gelernter expressed his reluctant endorsement of Trump in an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal, stating his case against both Hillary and Obama, whom he described as elitists.
“Mrs. Clinton is right at home in the Oval Office and thinks she owns it,” wrote Gelernter.
He noted that Trump would be much easier to control if he ever stepped out of line, as establishment Republicans and Democrats alike would have no problem impeaching him to put Mike Pence in charge.
Regardless of Gelernter’s contentious politics, there’s no way call him an “anti-intellectual” at face value – unless your definition of the term only refers to leftist politics in academia. A computer scientist by trade, and a vocal critic of the academic establishment, Gelernter might just be the right person for the job.
Ian Miles Cheong is a journalist and outspoken media critic. You can reach him through social media at @stillgray on Twitter and on Facebook.