There is one person in nearly everyone's life that we have learned to forgive. In Chicago, they have names like Tom, Amy, and Bill. We will listen to what they have to say every morning and even adjust our wardrobe to match their advice. We enjoy the excitement they can bring of a developing snow storm and we can easily forgive as class remains far from canceled. While we hope for accuracy, we do not ever let ourselves expect it. The truth is, we know that their guess it better than ours...which is exactly the same mentality we have towards the public intellectuals in our lives. Public Intellectuals, while often wrong, are more than often forgiven. Public Intellectuals, like Meteorologists, have more credentials and expertise on a subject matter, which is why it is difficult to cut them out of our lives. If we did, we would just be left with our lonely thoughts to form opinions on subjects far outside our knowledge base. When they are wrong, we assume that their inside knowledge led them to a certain decision and from there their mistake is justified and forgiven. Who are we as everyday consumers of the public sphere to judge those that we idolize for their knowledge, credentials, and talents? We chose to forgive because we know we would also want to be forgiven. So, when asked, "Who are the public intellectuals of 2012" they are the Toms, the Amys, and the Bills. They are the people who simply have an expertise on a subject matter that we lack. And yes, we forgive, because what other choice do we have?
I really enjoy the metaphor that you have used to describe weatherman and public intellectuals. The idea that we are alright with them making mistakes because they may have higher credentials, is a slippery slope problem just waiting to happen. With meteorologist, I understand, because weather patterns can change at the drop of a dime. Yet, with public intellectuals it would seem to me that it would be more important to get facts right, before going out and talking about a topic someone has little to no knowledge of, regardless of their credentials.
ReplyDeleteI too really like the metaphor of weatherman. They're often wrong but we tun into them regularly anyway. Of course, it could be that we aren't just tuning into the weather report for information about whether or not to bring an umbrella to work. As Posner suggests, we might enjoy the weatherman's "output" because we find it entertaining or-- a really interesting thought-- because we identify with it or him in some way. In fact, an old prof of mine at U of MN, Tom Conley, actually wrote an essay about how watching the weather report and talking about the weather was a ritual through which Minnesotans affirmed their unique regional identity. I'll have to see if I can dig it up...
ReplyDeleteThis metaphor really puts the idea of the PI in perspective. Like good 'ole Tom, you love him when he's right and curse him when he's wrong.. but you always come back to hear what he has to say the next day.
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