Public Intellectuals: A Study of Decline
The first part of this 400 page book is convincing and well written. I would breeze through the second half, in which Posner goes off on tangents like the Clinton impeachment. The number of public intellectuals who can comment accurately on broad societal issues is declining, and the number of “celebrity” public intellectuals who jump outside their realm of expertise and often offer false predictions and nutty anecdotes with no formal challenges or record to account for is increasing. This book sheds light on this interesting and not-often-talked-about issue.
Re Posner’s book-we have many discussion at home about the so-called experts who are telling us what’s right (or wrong) with the world. I often wonder what criteria is in place to become an expert. I have trouble finding credibility in people who discuss issues on a solely theoretical basis and have no experience to back it up.