I’m the sort of reader who enjoys reading things that challenge my perspective and encourage me to think about things differently than how I already see them. Generally, I’m inclined to believe that rules have exceptions, but exceptions are often abused. This would put me ideologically in line with libertarian-ish thought. This seems to imply that the world is a complex entity, not one easily reduced to maxims.
Take an institution as mundane as a supermarket. (FEE did this with a pencil to describe the complexity of merely creating a pencil.) A supermarket, a periphery institution wears many interlocking hats. Supermarkets are employers, producers, entrepreneurs, supply chains, aggregations of individuals, semi-hierarchical structures, cornerstones of community, meeting-place, improv locations, muses, eyesores, and many other things. While there are essential characteristics of a supermarket, borders are fuzzy, and it’s not always clear where one ends or begins. When thinking about things, especially things that seem “ordinary”, there are often hidden worlds of interlocking stories that we do not know or understand. Sometimes what is mythical is horrifying, dark, and overwhelming. Stranger Things, a popular television show illustrates that what is unknown and out-of-the-ordinary is frightening. Though, the known unknowns, the unknown knowns (yes they do exist), and the unknown unknowns are not always something to be fearful of. Instead, one should be agnostic about the world, and willing to understand different views of what would be the same. Being agnostic about how the world functions should also preclude all-encompassing simple worldviews. Tyler Cowen explains this well in his Ted Talk.
Applying the insight that the world is not easily reducible into simple stories of good versus evil, efficient against idiotic, one should take the time to consider what other views think, and make a conscious effort to understand prior to concluding. This means trying to accurately understand an interlocuter’s stance prior to trying to discredit or defeat them. Some commentators who I think do a good job of this are Andrew Sullivan, Scott Alexander, Bryan Caplan, John McWhorter, Julia Galef, Jonathan Rauch, and to some-degree Fredrick Deboer. I’m sure there’s more who are intellectually kind to other people, but the point bears repeating that not all media is created equal. There’s a new project by Arnold Kling that has fantasy intellectual teams as a sort of social reward. I like the idea.
Though, some of the names of people who make the intellectual fantasy league don’t deserve a spot in the minor league. If I was in charge of creating a task-force for intellectual good behavior, there would be a lifetime ban on Ezra Klein (Vox Media). Ezra Klein created Vox, an explanatory journalism outlet which has a tendency to be unkind to those of other persuasions. That wouldn’t be a problem on its own, after all, not everyone is competing for the same constituency. The major problem is JournoList, a group Klein founded that made news a whole-lot-less independent, and was used to coordinate media blitzes on topics that most establishment media would find difficult.
Nonetheless, the problem of doing journalism that makes one think is hard work, and is often less satisfying than trying to “own the libs” as Ben Shapiro does. It appears that part of the problem is the reward for bad behavior. In order to see better behavior, there needs to be effective institutions that demand charitability and give grounds to multiple interpretations. Magazines like Persuasion have this goal in mind, but I’m doubtful that they’ll be successful. However, I get the feeling that there’s something frustrating about encouraging others to be angry at their neighbors constantly.
The flip-side of this is that bad behavior, especially from reputable organizations such as the NYTimes needs to be addressed. There’s a lot of low quality reporting that’s been good for the NYTimes bottom line but bad for journalism. If corporate institutions that behaved poorly were seen as trashy in the same way that the Epoch Times is, I think institutions would rise to the challenge to improve. At the same time, improving the media without improving the caliber of education would do little as the next generation begins to inhabit newsrooms. This is made worse because there’s little money left in traditional journalism and this may scare off more talented storytellers. Overall, we’ll have to see what happens.
In order to do my part, I advocate for free speech, host debates at my college, and try my best to interact with a variety of folks. Things like Heterodox Academy and Braver Angels USA seem like among the best strategies to make people curious in the first place. I recently started watching the Wire and I’m hopeful something with that artistic value will be able to be created again soon.
Think about what you can do to de-radicalize and engage your local teenagers. The world will be better for it.
Isadore Johnson's Website 