Obscurantism

High school (ages 12+)
Thinking & Learning

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/obscurantism

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the related philosophical stance?Anti-intellectualism, often employed to maintain control or resist societal change
2. Why do people use obscurantism?They use it to keep power, control stories, or stop others from learning new ideas.
3. How did the Enlightenment think about obscurantism?Enlightenment thinkers said obscurantism was a bad trick that keeps people ignorant and stops good ideas from spreading.

Abstruse: Difficult to understand; obscure.
Dissemination: The act of spreading something, especially information, widely.
Enlightenment: An 18th-century intellectual movement emphasizing reason, individualism, and skepticism towards tradition.