Al Gore's New Book Examines 'The Assault on Reason'

[marmar]

From the Center for American Progress, via AlterNet:


Al Gore's New Book Examines 'The Assault on Reason'

Center for American Progress. Posted May 22, 2007.


In his new book, Al Gore explores why reason, logic and truth seem to play a sharply diminished role in the way America now makes important decisions and what we can do to change that.

This story was written by Faiz Shakir, Nico Pitney, Amanda Terkel, Satyam Khanna, and Matt Corley.


American public discourse is increasingly "vulnerable to the kind of rope-a-dope strategies that Exxon Mobil and their brethren have been employing for decades now," argues Al Gore. For example, a recent survey of 21 nations found that Americans are "among the least anxious" about global warming, "even though their nation is the top source of greenhouse gases."

In a ranking of 34 countries, the United States ranks near the bottom in the public acceptance of Charles Darwin's mainstream theory of evolution. Nearly half of the public still believes that Saddam Hussein was responsible for the 9/11 attacks, despite unequivocal refutations of that claim. In his new book, The Assault on Reason, which will be released today, Gore explains "why logic and reason and the best evidence available and the scientific discoveries do not have more force in changing the way we all think about the reality we are now facing." He sharply criticizes the television media for covering trivial excess and politicians for alienating the public, many of whom believe "that no one in power listens to or cares what they think."

American democracy "is in danger of being hollowed out," writes Gore. "In order to reclaim our birthright, we Americans must resolve to repair the systemic decay of the public forum."


The 'Well-Amused Audience': Americans watch television for an average of four hours and 35 minutes each day, which is 90 minutes more than the average in the rest of the world. But much of this viewing time is devoted to coverage of "serial obsessions," such as the Michael Jackson trial and the Laci Peterson tragedy. Gore warns that the "well-informed citizenry" is in danger of becoming the "well-amused audience."

Only one in four Americans can name more than one of the First Amendment freedoms, but more than half can name at least two members of the Simpsons cartoon family. On Aug. 17, 2006, a federal judge in Michigan issued "a sweeping rebuke of the once-secret domestic-surveillance effort the White House authorized following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001." The ruling was "a significant blow to Mr. Bush's attempts to expand presidential powers." Yet on that day, the evening news programs on all three television networks devoted significantly more airtime to the JonBenet Ramsey case. .....(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/story/52179/