The Divide

The Divide
Author :
Publisher : MIT Press
Total Pages : 235
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9780262365987
ISBN-13 : 0262365987
Rating : 4/5 (87 Downloads)

Book Synopsis The Divide by : Taylor Dotson

Download or read book The Divide written by Taylor Dotson and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2021-08-03 with total page 235 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why our obsession with truth--the idea that some undeniable truth will make politics unnecessary--is driving our political polarization. In The Divide, Taylor Dotson argues provocatively that what drives political polarization is not our disregard for facts in a post-truth era, but rather our obsession with truth. The idea that some undeniable truth will make politics unnecessary, Dotson says, is damaging democracy. We think that appealing to facts, or common sense, or nature, or the market will resolve political disputes. We view our opponents as ignorant, corrupt, or brainwashed. Dotson argues that we don't need to agree with everyone, or force everyone to agree with us; we just need to be civil enough to practice effective politics. Dotson shows that we are misguided to pine for a lost age of respect for expertise. For one thing, such an age never happened. For another, people cannot be made into ultra-rational Vulcans. Dotson offers a road map to guide both citizens and policy makers in rethinking and refashioning political interactions to be more productive. To avoid the trap of divisive and fanatical certitude, we must stop idealizing expert knowledge and romanticizing common sense. He outlines strategies for making political disputes more productive: admitting uncertainty, sharing experiences, and tolerating and negotiating disagreement. He suggests reforms to political practices and processes, adjustments to media systems, and dramatic changes to schooling, childhood, the workplace, and other institutions. Productive and intelligent politics is not a product of embracing truth, Dotson argues, but of adopting a pluralistic democratic process.


The Divide Related Books

The Divide
Language: en
Pages: 235
Authors: Taylor Dotson
Categories: Political Science
Type: BOOK - Published: 2021-08-03 - Publisher: MIT Press

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Why our obsession with truth--the idea that some undeniable truth will make politics unnecessary--is driving our political polarization. In The Divide, Taylor D
The Divide
Language: en
Pages: 320
Authors: Robert Charles Wilson
Categories: Fiction
Type: BOOK - Published: 2013-03-29 - Publisher: Hachette UK

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

He was designed to be the perfect man. And at first the experiment seemed a success. John Shaw - the product of secret government research into enhanced intelli
Across the Divide
Language: en
Pages: 256
Authors: Steven J. Ramold
Categories: History
Type: BOOK - Published: 2013-04-22 - Publisher: NYU Press

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

"Ramold disputes the old argument that citizen-soldiers in the Union Army differed little from civilians. He shows how a chasm of mutual distrust grew between s
Bridging the Divide
Language: en
Pages: 242
Authors: Sharon Hart-Green
Categories: Poetry
Type: BOOK - Published: 2015-09-01 - Publisher: Syracuse University Press

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Raised in a Ladino-speaking family of Bulgarian Jewish immigrants, Pinhas-Cohen fuses the ancient Sephardic chant of her childhood with the contemporary rhythm
Across the Divide
Language: en
Pages: 243
Authors: Elizabeth Bernays
Categories: Biography & Autobiography
Type: BOOK - Published: 2023-05-31 - Publisher: Wheatmark, Inc.

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Nothing prepared Liz, the academic scientist (with a background in Australia and UK) for Linda, the quick-witted eighth-grade dropout from Texas excelling in ma