Americans growing more close minded?
Susan Jacoby's recent editorial in the L.A. Times makes the suggestion, based on her experience on the lecture circuit, that Americans are less inclined than they used to be to have their beliefs challenged.
She writes: [V]irtually everywhere I speak, 95% of the audience shares my political and cultural views — and serious conservatives report exactly the same experience on the lecture circuit.
Whether watching television news, consulting political blogs or (more rarely) reading books, Americans today have become a people in search of validation for opinions that they already hold. This absence of curiosity about other points of view is the essence of anti-intellectualism and represents a major departure from the nation's best cultural traditions.
I'm not sure I'd call it anti-intellectualism; I still encounter many, many Americans who are well informed and very passionate about the events of this world. However, I do notice that I rarely get dissenting comments on this blog. Most of my audience seems to agree with me before they even start reading, which supports her thesis, and this disheartens me, as part of my purpose is to get the word out and to wake up those who are not aware of the information I have to share.
Are we really a people simply in search of validation? That's a disturbing idea indeed.
She writes: [V]irtually everywhere I speak, 95% of the audience shares my political and cultural views — and serious conservatives report exactly the same experience on the lecture circuit.
Whether watching television news, consulting political blogs or (more rarely) reading books, Americans today have become a people in search of validation for opinions that they already hold. This absence of curiosity about other points of view is the essence of anti-intellectualism and represents a major departure from the nation's best cultural traditions.
I'm not sure I'd call it anti-intellectualism; I still encounter many, many Americans who are well informed and very passionate about the events of this world. However, I do notice that I rarely get dissenting comments on this blog. Most of my audience seems to agree with me before they even start reading, which supports her thesis, and this disheartens me, as part of my purpose is to get the word out and to wake up those who are not aware of the information I have to share.
Are we really a people simply in search of validation? That's a disturbing idea indeed.
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