Convergence
By Ronald A. Crutcher
In their classic book, Metaphors We Live By, linguist George Lakoff and philosopher Mark Johnson theorized that metaphors lend considerable power and meaning to human thought and behavior. Consider the way we talk about ideas as commodities that can be bought, sold, traded or pilfered: "I'm not buying that argument." "Don't try to sell me a line." "He stole what I was going to say." "She gave me a good idea."
The metaphor of ideas as physical goods extends to the concept of the marketplace as a space in which ideas compete for public acceptance. This image has a long lineage. In ancient Greece, the word agora described both a physical market and a forum for discussion. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes drew on that simile in one of his famous defenses of the First Amendment, writing in Abrams vs. the United States, "The best test of truth is the power of the thought to get itself accepted in the competition of the market...."
The 21st-century marketplace of ideas, unfortunately, is a benighted place. Public discourse today is ruled by carefully crafted sound bites designed to speak to the beliefs and emotions of "target audiences."
The rapid advances in communications technology have changed the nature of public discourse. Media fragmentation-the 500 channels on cable, satellite radio, digital video recorders, the Internet-has turned our shared marketplace into a collection of specialty shops where like-minded people gather. We can so easily retreat into our own narrow biases; our media choices only serve to confirm them, rather than stretching us to think and question.
In this highly fragmented environment, it's more important than ever that students graduate with the skills of discourse (and an understanding of its value to society). They also need the courage and leadership skills to create and implement as-yet unknown approaches to building civil society in the 21st century.
Colleges can and must play a role in promoting civil dialogue. Scholarship requires it, of course. The exchange of complex and competing ideas pollinates academic endeavors and fuels the advance of knowledge. A college education should encourage students to develop the critical thinking skills necessary to grapple with complicated issues and complex ideas-and to know the difference between an emotional appeal and a reasoned, empirically based argument.
Wheaton offers numerous opportunities for students to learn how to be informed traders in the marketplace of ideas. The First-Year Seminars are organized around provocative subjects-often interdisciplinary topics-that demand the consideration of multiple viewpoints. And with the faculty's efforts to integrate racial, ethnic, gender and social perspectives into subjects across the curriculum, students regularly grapple with the challenges of competing and conflicting ideas about the world in which we live.
A new campus lecture series called Beyond Common Ground brings respectful dialogue to the forefront and looks at topical subjects from multiple perspectives-left, right and center. The series was launched this past year as a means of exploring the contentious issues of our time in a manner that is thoughtful, ethical and open. What a rare phenomenon in our age! Last year's topic was the inflammatory issue of immigration in the United States. This year, we plan to tackle other, equally difficult issues with courage and gusto.
Wheaton students are living examples of the value of this approach. To give just one instance of recent campus leadership: Students played a pivotal role in the Board of Trustees' decision to divest from holdings in companies doing business with Sudan. The board's deliberations were informed by what students brought to the discussion, including a series of campus forums they organized. In turn, the students came away with a more sophisticated understanding of the challenging fiduciary responsibilities that trustees have for the long-term health of the college, and of the many difficulties involved in creating a feasible divestment plan. The resulting policy not only is a model for responsible divestment, but it also exemplifies civil discourse.
In the 21st century, our task is not simply to reinvigorate the public marketplace. It is to reinvent it. Wheaton's graduates are up to the challenge.
