Uncommon Descent Serving The Intelligent Design Community

Why the decline of mainstream media may be good for ID

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Recently, I’ve been looking at institutions that prevent an honest discussion of design in the universe and life forms. Yesterday, I linked to a series of short excerpts from Greg Lukianoff’s book, Unlearning Liberty, about the role of the college campus today in shutting down thinking in general.

Lukianoff is a liberal atheist with a leaning toward Buddhism, an ideal person to help us track the growth of illiberal ideas on campus. Why, for example, is Arun Smith  a heroic censor for tearing down a free speech wall display when, in living memory, he wouldn’t be allowed to  waste a university’s time?

Put another way: “Education for all” sounds like a wonderful idea. Maybe it is, but caution! the educated troll is still a troll. He doesn’t value the life of the mind. The administration loves him because they don’t either. That is the tragedy of the administration gaining the upper hand at a university.

The average journalist, however well-meaning, is totally clueless when trying to understand whether the universe shows evidence of design. Fortunately, the enterprises that employ him are losing money hand over fist. That’s good news See:

Should you go to journalism school if it costs over $80k per year and no job follows?

Declining circulation/viewership of mainstream media isn’t the whole story

Will paywalls save traditional media?

Today’s media culture just does not translate well to the Internet

If you want a job in public relations, get a job in public relations openly and honestly

Cheat sheet:  Today’s journalist thinks you mean that women should be stoned to death for adultery, which is probably the exact opposite your basic point of view. But he considers himself virtuous for not knowing what you actually think.

(Yes, there ARE people out there who think that, but he isn’t allowed to report it, so heck, it doesn’t matter.)

If he is a “Christian” journalist, he may suffer from a deep desire to atone for whatever sins Christianity is supposed to have committed against science, (when in fact it provided the best nurture in the history of the world). So he barks at his readers that there is no conflict between faith and science precisely when he is discussing the work of people who believe that his readers’ faith is , simply an illusion that furthers the replication of their selfish genes.

And those are the good ones. Don’t ask about the others.

Comments
The fact is that how you think, and hence how you act, is always influenced in some way by the feelings and views of those to whom you listen. This need not be a bad thing, of course. Thus, do not become complacent and think that no one could ever influence you. In his book The Hidden Persuaders, Vance Packard made this point: “We still have a strong defence available against such [hidden] persuaders: we can choose not to be persuaded. In virtually all situations we still have the choice, and we cannot be too seriously manipulated if we know what is going on.” That is also true of propaganda and deceit. Of course, to “know what is going on,” you must keep your mind open and receptive to good influences. Lack of information can be just as lethal as misinformation. So while it is true that you need to protect your mind from misleading ideas and philosophies, try not to develop a jaundiced and cynical view of all advice or information offered to you.Barb
May 26, 2013
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