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Age of American Unreason (Revised, Updated) | 
#AdelesMayMashUp Day 11: This book would most likely be the poster child for #NobodysPerfect. This was Sunday lunch prepared by the husband - olive oil and garlic with homemade garlic chips, pine nuts, and scallops.
So, Duncan Jones, who is hosting the #BowieBookClub has just announced the title for May: "The Age Of American Unreason" by Susan Jacoby. Here is the link - found it in Book Depository! http://bit.ly/americanunreason
pickVery interesting read about the rise of anti - rationalism in America. Jacoby made good arguments, although at times her personal bias came through in ways that diminished some of her effectiveness. This would be an excellent book to read and discuss as a group - particularly since it was written in 2009.
pickI decided to start #LitsyAtoZ and it happens that my most recent read gives me the letter #A!
I have a few minor differences with Jacoby, but clearly, her premise is valid. Nothing in American life operates based on reason; as a group we make decisions not according to logic, but to religious faith or political ideology. Her examination of the way this cultural attitude developed over the past 50 years is fascinating, depressing, and relevant.
"The greater accessibility of information through computers and the Internet serves to foster the illusion that the ability to retrieve words and numbers with the click of a mouse also confers the capacity to judge whether those words and numbers represent truth, lies, or something in between."
"In today's America, intellectuals and nonintellectuals alike, whether on the left or right, tend to tune out any voice that is not an echo." -- written almost 10 years ago, this intro is pulling me in.
so-soIn light of the current political developments, this book was my attempt to get a better understanding how the political mindset of the American people has developed. I do think that the author provided an extensive view of the historical development of anti-intellectualism and how it results in the political landscape that we have, though it was published in 2008 and therefore is not including Obama's presidency. Continued in comments 👇👇👇
Throughout the nation, the American tendency to value education only in terms of its practical results—a phenomenon as old as the republic—reasserted itself strongly in the “no frills” decisions of many local and state school boards. That the eliminated frills had once provided children with some exposure to a higher culture than pop was a matter of little concern to the public.
Lecturing and grading and preparing (i.e. teaching) and writing have not left me much time for reading, but this campaign is so excruciatingly embarrassing that I need some bracing and analysis and Jacoby is just the writer to provide both.
books + politics: a small selection from a vast collection (can you guess my political leanings??) #thesenatorfromMassachusetts #politics
