So, without class this week there was not a huge revelation of any kind based on class discussion. I was left with my own ponderings and the rabbit trails that they led me down. This week I have been mainly pondering the Kozma/Clark articles. I still find it odd that Clark would just suggest to stop researching a particular topic. Maybe he thought that they were at the peak of new media. Or maybe this article was a product of the times and people were anti-research to some degree. We certainly see that from time to time in public attitudes. As much as the field changes, I just don’t see how we can stop researching any angle. I think time has proven that many did not heed that suggestion, and I think our field is richer in knowledge because of that. Sure, there is plenty of bad research out there, and much that ended up supporting Clark’s views – but many did turn up some angles and figures that have helped the field in general.

or maybe I am being too much of an optimist.

I have also been pondering the ethical-political connections that Bernstien was exploring, of how to lead a good life and be a good citizen. I have to wonder how Bernstein and others would approach these concepts in the age of Facebook. Everyone seems to have widely differing views of what “good citizens” should do. Those that live a good life could be seen as mass consumers that create their good life on the backs of the less fortunate, thus meaning they are not good citizens. These are probably issues that Bernstein will explore in future chapters. But I wonder if it will all come down to the unstoppable force meeting the immovable object. Ethics and politics just sometimes seem to be so rooted in diametrically opposed directions that I don’t know how they can be balanced at times. Maybe Bernstein will unpack those issues further on in the book. Or maybe he will just come out and say that anyone reading the book is too stupid to understand any of it. Although, that would seem to be more true of most people reading Habermas for the first time.