Know-It-All Society: Truth and Arrogance in Political Culture

Know-It-All Society: Truth and Arrogance in Political Culture

The â€œphilosopher of truthâ€ (Jill Lepore, The New Yorker) returns with a clear-eyed and timely critique of our cultureâ€™s narcissistic obsession with thinking that â€œweâ€ know and â€œtheyâ€ donâ€™t.
Taking stock of our fragmented political landscape, Michael Patrick Lynch delivers a trenchant philosophical take on digital culture and its tendency to make us into dogmatic know-it-alls. The internetâ€•where most shared news stories are not even read by the person posting themâ€•has contributed to the rampant spread of â€œintellectual arrogance.â€ In this culture, we have come to think that we have nothing to learn from one another; we are rewarded for emotional outrage over reflective thought; and we glorify a defensive rejection of those different from us.

Interweaving the works of classic philosophers such as Hannah Arendt and Bertrand Russell and imposing them on a cybernetic future they could not have possibly even imagined, Lynch delves deeply into three core ideas that explain how weâ€™ve gotten to the way we are:

â€¢ our natural tendency to be overconfident in our knowledge;
â€¢ the tribal politics that feed off our tendency;
â€¢ and the way the outrage factory of social media spreads those politics of arrogance and blind conviction.

In addition to identifying an ascendant â€œknow-it-all-ismâ€ in our culture, Lynch offers practical solutions for how we might start reversing this dangerous trendâ€•from rejecting the banality of emoticons that rarely reveal insight to embracing the tenets of Socrates, who exemplified the humility of admitting how little we often know about the world, to the importance of dialogue if we want to know more. With bracing and deeply original analysis, Lynch holds a mirror up to American culture to reveal that the sources of our fragmentation start with our attitudes toward truth. Ultimately, Know-It-All Society makes a powerful new argument for the indispensable value of truth and humility in democracy.
Country USA
Brand LIVERIGHT
Manufacturer Liveright
Binding Hardcover
ItemPartNumber 9781631493614
ReleaseDate 2019-08-13
UnitCount 1
EANs 9781631493614

Country	USA
Brand	LIVERIGHT
Manufacturer	Liveright
Binding	Hardcover
ItemPartNumber	9781631493614
ReleaseDate	2019-08-13
UnitCount	1
EANs	9781631493614

Know-It-All Society: Truth and Arrogance in Political Culture

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