<p>ah…liz, you are correct. I thought you were saying growth of evangelical movement caused decline of community. But, I do stand by the statement that there is a (irrational or exaggerated) fear of what is not understood. With which I think you probably agree.</p>
<p>(Now…since you mentioned Swiftboaters, in all fairness, I think you will now have to come up with an example from the other side of the aisle. ;))</p>
<p>The way that political races are typically covered on TV, as well as the speed and noisiness of the Internet (including boards like this), tends to make people believe that if you want to be - and want to be seen by others as - an intelligent and sophisticated individual, you have to have opinions. Not only that; you have to hold those opinions, and express them, as forcefully as possible. Of course, intelligence and sophistication are often better demonstrated by other things, such as skepticism, uncertainty, doubt, ambivalence—qualities that are not much prized, it seems, in the electronic marketplace of ideas.</p>
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<p>I find apathy to be among the worst of human traits. While politics doesn’t stir up apathy, it certainly underlines it every time there is an election, as we regularly see less than 50% of voters actually taking the time to vote, except in presidential elections.</p>
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Who are you kidding? “Doubt” is almost never prized anywhere.</p>
<p>It just really bothers me when someone characterizes an entire large part of the country as “low life scum,” (seen on a Hannity board) and such. It seems wrong…</p>
<p>Mr. Payne:</p>
<p>Thank you for recognizing the inflammatory character of my post—something I’d somehow missed when writing it.</p>
<p>As for “doubt,” let me just suggest, without belaboring the point, that whole worlds of intellectual and cultural endeavor—fiction, religion, science, philosophy, to name just a few—would be much flatter, much less rich, if the participants lacked a healthy capacity for doubt.</p>
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I’m sorry, I didn’t comprehend what you meant. I was thinking <em>self-doubt</em>. Self-doubt is not prized. Doubting other people/ideas, I agree.</p>
<p>No, actually, I wasn’t excluding self-doubt. If a scientific researcher, for example, lacked the capacity to reflect on, and doubt, her own methods and conclusions, I can’t imagine that she’d ever accomplish anything meaningful. And the same goes, I think, for a historian, a painter (I recently read a biography of Matisse - self-doubt was an essential part of his personality), a writer (what is revision, after all, but a process of doubting that something you’ve written is as good as it could be, then trying to improve it?), etc., etc., etc.</p>
<h2>"It just really bothers me when someone characterizes an entire large part of the country as “low life scum,” </h2>
<p>Oh that’s nothin’. I’m a Native Texan, we’re used the rest of the US calling us “low life scum”. ;)</p>
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You originally said that doubt wasn’t prized in the electronic marketplace. Self doubt isn’t really prized <em>anywhere</em> that requires social interaction. When was the last time the self-doubter got the girl or the promotion. Our society rewards confidence.</p>
<p>Mr. Payne:</p>
<p>I don’t want to turn this thread into a side conversation between the two of us. Let me suggest, though, as a final comment on my part - then you can have, as I expect you will, the last word - that self-confidence, if not linked to a capacity for self-doubt, may often prove to be more destructive than productive, whether in social interactions or otherwise.</p>
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You are not disagreeing with what I said…</p>
<p>Actually I think that the extreme feelings aroused in politics are appropriate. Too many people underestimate the importance of politics. It affects each one of us in profound ways. It has affected me personally. The stakes are very high this time, as they have always been. The media is not paying enough attention to the issues, and it never does.</p>