progressivism, individualism, and the public ... - Telmarc Group

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PROGRESSIVISM, INDIVIDUALISM, AND THE PUBLIC
INTELLECTUAL
2 THE PUBLIC INTELLECTUAL
There has arisen in the past century and a half in the United States especially what is now
called the public intellectual. This entity, individual, is a creation of many factors, prime
amongst them is the ability for them to get their opinions aired and then followed. They
are creatures of the times and of the media which create them. In many cases they are
academics who eschew the pages of the professional journals at times for the editorial
pages of the prominent newspapers, the screens of television sets, and the pages of the
Internet.
They are opinion creators, promulgators, and promoters. In some ways they are akin to
the 19th and early 20th century wandering preachers spouting forth their view of a future
and what will happen in the event that their special advice is not followed. They are
viewed as experts, yet frequently their expertise, and often they have some depth, may be
far afield from where they preach.
There is a quote in Peter Drucker's book recounting various people he had met along the
way about Marshall McLuhan. Drucker referred to the presentation of McLuhan's
doctoral thesis at which for some reason he was attending in Canada and there is a
discussion and McLuhan is quoted by Drucker as follows 8 :
"Movable type, rather than Petrarch, Copernicus, or Columbus was the creator of the
modern world view...
"Did I hear you right," asked one of the professors as McLuhan had finished reading,
"that you think printing influenced the course s the universities taught and the role of the
university, altogether?”
"No, sir," said McLuhan, "it did not influence; printing determined both, indeed, printing
determined henceforth what was going to be considered knowledge.”
The last sentence has substantial truth in it and especially in today's world where we have
begun to displace the printed word in books and journals and the newspapers with the
Internet and the fluid word which is electronically and pervasively distributed. Today
anyone can write a book, a paper, prepare a video, and audio, any multimedia
presentation and then have it memorialized on the Internet accessibly by all. The concept
of viral transmission is new and dramatically destabilizing. Its true impact is yet to be
determined.
8 See Drucker, p. 250
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