It is no revelation that a powerful anti-intellectual strain exists in our country, that in many areas the desire to gain material wealth often exceeds the desire to learn for its own sake or that a number of our citizens value guns more than education.

In America, the greatest compliment you can give someone is to say that he or she is "down to earth." In contrast are the so-called eggheads, those who think they know more about a particular subject simply because they have put in the time to study it.

College professors are generally included in this category — men and women who arrogantly cite facts during a discussion rather than apply good old common sense. Many of these overly educated dreamers are so far out of touch with reality that they consider literature, classical music, history or art to be as important as sports. Some have even been known to assert that football is overly violent and that killing an animal for sport is both cowardly and repulsive.

I know that the above is true, because for more than 35 years I was a professor, a learnaholic who passed on my terrible addiction to others. It makes me tremble to think that I may be responsible for having caused young, innocent students to become hooked on thinking. My bad. My very, very, bad.

As is the case with other addictions, I am finding it very difficult to kick the habit of learning, and I realize that I will always be a recovering, never a fully recovered, professor.

On the positive side, I have reached the crucial point where I freely acknowledge my disease and must be content to keep it in check one day at a time. To succeed, I have developed a few simple exercises that I offer to others who share my malady.

All that is necessary for the first exercise is a radio or a television set. In the case of the radio, I tune in to Rush Limbaugh to clear my mind of any profound thoughts. The television exercise is similar, the target program being Fox News.

As of this writing I have only been able to last more than five minutes at either without beginning to feel nauseous, but I am determined to build up my endurance and eventually enjoy the hiatus they provide from learning and thinking.

The next exercise I recommend is very effective for anyone addicted to correct grammar and syntax.

One need only establish a Twitter account and then view the tweets of various politicians, show business celebrities and/or members of the media. In a short while, it will become possible to unlearn how to write correctly and coherently, another odious addiction very common among professors and other ivory tower intellectuals.

Proof that I was making progress in my quest to become a "regular guy" was illustrated by my reaction to the article in Sunday's Morning Call that outlined the financial strains that have forced Cedar Crest College to eliminate music and dance from its curriculum.

Were I today the same, helplessly addicted intellectual as I was during the 36 years I taught there, this latest assault on the liberal arts would have sunk me into a deep depression, as had been the case when the Foreign Language Department was terminated.

But as difficult as it was to backslide, I exercised my willpower and resisted the urge to listen to a Mozart symphony or read a work of Kafka's. Instead, I simply shrugged my shoulders and thought about a new pair of shoes I had seen advertised in the morning newspaper.

I was so elated by this sign that I had overcome my addiction that I decided to sell my book collection and use the proceeds to buy a season ticket to an NFL team.

Who knows, one day in the future I may even buy a gun or two and get myself a deer head for the walls of my former study.

Don LoCicero of Allentown is an author and professor emeritus at Cedar Crest College. His blog can be found at http://www.savvymafkikker.com.