The Death of Why: The Decline of Questioning and the Future of Democracy ~ Andrea Batista Schlesinger
- Argues passionately for the critical importance of inquiry to a healthy democracy
- Shows how the very institutions that should be encouraging inquiry—schools, the media, government, the Internet—are actually discouraging it
- Highlights hopeful examples of people working to restore inquiry to its rightful place of importance
The spirit of inquiry is the engine of democracy. The democratic process is nothing less than citizens regularly asking what kind of society they want to live in and whom they want to lead them. But more and more people are avoiding the whole messy business of questioning. Americans are instead being trained to look for ready-made answers, with potentially dire implications for the health of our society.
In this impassioned new book, Andrea Batista Schlesinger argues that we’re besieged by cultural forces that urge us to avoid independent thought and critical analysis. The media reduces politics to a spectator sport, focusing on polls and personalities rather than issues and ideas. Schools teach to standardized tests—students learn to fill in the bubbles, not open their minds. “Financial literacy” courses have replaced civics classes, graduating smart shoppers rather than informed citizens. Even the Internet promotes habits that discourage inquiry.
Regurgitating search-engine results becomes a substitute for genuine research and reflection. Social networks promote connection rather than engagement. With all the information available online, over a third of those younger than twenty-five say they get no news on a typical day, up from 25 percent in 1998.
Related:
Crooks and Liars Book Chat: The Death of Why by Andrea Batista Schlesinger, Nicole Belle, Crooks & Liars
Submitted by Evergreene Digest Contributing Editor Thomas Sklarski
Our lack of appreciation of the power and value of questions leave us mostly disengaged from the democracy of which we're a part. Fewer and fewer people have any notion of how government works and that lack of engagement enables life-changing legislation to get passed with little public discussion.
Syl Jones: Online comments: An art form, Syl Jones, StarTribune | MN
