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February

How Bad Ideas Spread: Shaping Values by Claiming the Conventional Wisdom

Allison Carr, Associate Professor of Rhetoric
Drew Westberg, Associate Professor of Economics
February 6, 13, 20, 27

 

Allison Carr
Drew Westberg


“We are burdening our children with the national debt.” “College just isn’t a good investment anymore.” “I believe in free markets.” “We can’t have public healthcare, it’s too expensive!” “Social security won’t be around for my generation.” “Deficits are bad!” We have all heard such statements; they reflect commonly held understandings of subjects that are perennially relevant. Yet empirical examination suggests such statements are not always accurate. So why do we believe them and how do such sentiments become so powerfully etched in our collective psyche? In this four-week forum, Associate Professor of Rhetoric Allison Carr and Associate Professor of Economics Drew Westberg will explain how and why contagious ideas become institutions. In week one, we will examine conventional wisdom surrounding money and the national debt. During this session, participants will also be introduced to basic concepts in the art of rhetoric, institutional economics and communication theory, which will allow us to evaluate the claims about money as well as the other topics that will be examined during the month-long series. Week two will focus on the conventional wisdom around markets and how those ideas permeate our approach to public policy and decision-making, including local- and state-level actions on issues like school closures, public transportation, policing and public health. In week three, we will tackle conventional wisdoms about higher education, applying our rhetorical tools and empirical analysis to ideas like “College isn’t worth it” and “I worked my way through college.” The final session will look at conventional wisdoms surrounding inequality, work and poverty. Throughout, the series as a whole will investigate why some ideas become institutions while others have a short lifespan, how certain ideas come to powerfully shape and reinforce societal values, and how new sets of shared ideas can be created.