Comments on: It’s all about ideological struggle… http://rhetorica.net/archives/797.html Fri, 03 Feb 2012 05:01:36 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: acline http://rhetorica.net/archives/797.html/comment-page-1#comment-387 acline Thu, 13 Feb 2003 06:42:34 +0000 http://localhost/wpp3/?p=797#comment-387 Good points. I would add this: "e.g." means "for example," so I am not trying to claim exclusivity. Later in the entry I am careful to include "concerned professionals" among those who search for truth or, at least, workable models of reality. I would call any mind-set that seeks to understand first and persuade second an "academic" mind set. In other words, this kind of thinking does not require an advanced degree. It only requires that one's inquiry be motivated by a search for knowledge first. And I have no defense for your last claim; what you say is all too true. Blogging and the editorial pages of newspapers (even cable TV news) have given us eggheads a route to instant engagement with the public sphere. We are certainly not immune to shallow thinking and quick conclusions. Thanks for the reminder. Good points.

I would add this: “e.g.” means “for example,” so I am not trying to claim exclusivity. Later in the entry I am careful to include “concerned professionals” among those who search for truth or, at least, workable models of reality.

I would call any mind-set that seeks to understand first and persuade second an “academic” mind set. In other words, this kind of thinking does not require an advanced degree. It only requires that one’s inquiry be motivated by a search for knowledge first.

And I have no defense for your last claim; what you say is all too true. Blogging and the editorial pages of newspapers (even cable TV news) have given us eggheads a route to instant engagement with the public sphere. We are certainly not immune to shallow thinking and quick conclusions.

Thanks for the reminder.

]]> By: Lola Butcher http://rhetorica.net/archives/797.html/comment-page-1#comment-386 Lola Butcher Thu, 13 Feb 2003 05:57:50 +0000 http://localhost/wpp3/?p=797#comment-386 I think you're asking for trouble when you suggest an academic account is, by virtue of being "academic", guaranteed to be bias-free. [The second sentence is the crucial point: The struggle over media bias is not a search for an accurate account of what happens when humans practice journalism (e.g. an academic account).] Theoretically, academicians have the training, time and maturity to think deeply and opine only after they have weighed their topic carefully, allowing for them to identify and correct for their own biases. But many academicians these days want to be first out of the box to opine in public, which makes them no more likely to be in control of their own ideological biases than any deadline-oriented journalist. I think you’re asking for trouble when you suggest an academic account is, by virtue of being “academic”, guaranteed to be bias-free. [The second sentence is the crucial point: The struggle over media bias is not a search for an accurate account of what happens when humans practice journalism (e.g. an academic account).] Theoretically, academicians have the training, time and maturity to think deeply and opine only after they have weighed their topic carefully, allowing for them to identify and correct for their own biases. But many academicians these days want to be first out of the box to opine in public, which makes them no more likely to be in control of their own ideological biases than any deadline-oriented journalist.

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