Autonomy.. the confusion

Throughout our discussion on the topic of autonomy, and whether or not professors/academics are tenured, therefore having the ability to be autonomous or not, I began to wonder what sense any of it makes.  The ability to be autonomous should not depend on whether or not an academic is tenured.  If this was true, then logically, would students ever be fully educated with a complete knowledge on all view points, all opinions, and the different sides to issues regarding society. 

Academics, and individuals in general, should have some sensory in what they, because, although it may be a valid point, it may be something totally off base and unless all the facts are truly there, it should not be stated at all, due to the incident with Kevin Barrett.

While academics should sensor some of what they say when the evidence, and or public, may not be on the same page, they should be allowed to state their view points and facts regarding certain issues within society, without needing to be tenured at an institution.  Tenure should count for something, and should allow academics to feel more comfortable with being autonomous, but those that are not tenured should not feel that they have a zero percent ability to be autonomous because of fearing the loss of their job.

This should never be the case, because then us, as students, are never really sure if we are receiving accurate information, and are unsure of different view points, different angles, and different facts that might play an important role in how we are educated about situations within our society. 

Speakers as Intellectuals

A couple of speakers I believe to be modern examples of Public Intellectuals would be Paul Ryan, Al Gore, and Newt Gingrich. These men are public intellectuals that think about the combination of human interaction, global economics, and political policy in today's world.  They all offer different opinions, viewpoints, and points of interest when addressing the public and are very influential in the way they speak about these matters of importance to the public.

A noteworthy public intellectual needs to be able to address main concerns, as well as educate the people they are addressing, in order to be significant and important to society.  While I do believe they these individuals are powerful speakers, as well as knowledgeable with their topics of discussion, they still don't always allow both sides of a discussion to be brought up without the "I'm right with what I'm saying" mentality, and therefore they leave room for criticism with how they address the public, and deal with public matters.

Politicians sometimes say things without thinking, and can get themselves into trouble and will therefore be easily critiqued by the opposing side, or by the audiences they are trying to reach.  Politicians can easily be compared to academics in the sense that sometimes they do not educate and inform to the best of their ability, but instead tend to make quick decisions and say things without completely thinking through the reaction they will get from the public they are speaking to. 

Public Intellectuals, as a whole, need to be more concerned with addressing the public in a way that provides us with the knowledge and correct information.  Too many things are stated and printed before they are completely checked out, and this causes issues with who we believe, who we trust, and who we follow.  Therefore, when you have great speakers, motivators, thinkers, and intellectuals, such as the ones I mentioned as well as the ones Posner did, it is best to carefully pine through information and educate the public correctly the first time.

Fear? Greatness?

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.' We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we're liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

This passage/quotation always speaks to me and makes me think.  We all have fears that we encounter, but do these fears really stem from the belief we are actually "powerful beyond measure" and not really inadequate?  I believe sometimes we are afraid to speak up, afraid to take the praise and acknowledgement from something good we have accomplished, because we do not want to stand out and are therefore afraid of being "the different one or the one that succeeded" where others may have fallen short.  To always be afraid and to always try and hide the light we have shining within us, will sooner or later make us shrink our talents every day, and therefore not achieve the greatness we have.  Instead, we all need to make a conscious effort to let the talents, the beauty, and the excellence we all possess to shine, we need to express ourselves the way God designed us.  I truly believe we all have the ability to embrace our inner self, to succeed, and to achieve all the greatness set before ourselves, but we have to believe we have those talents, and believe we are the greatness we wish to achieve and become. 

The first time I heard this passage I was told to write down goals and achievements, both short term and long term, which I could wake up every morning and see and then start my day thinking about those goals, what I need to do to achieve them, and how I want to go about each and every day to reach the potential and greatness I know is inside me.  Put goals up for yourself, on your mirror, a whiteboard, or anything you will see every morning.  Anything you will see to remind you how amazing you are, how talented you are, and how beautiful you are in everything you do.  These goals are daily reminders to be excellent and to let your excellence shine through, without hiding it and without being afraid of succeeding where others fall short.

Understanding knowledge

Based off the class discussion and the readings for class, public life should have more contribution and more desire to inform others and educate others on the knowledge of events and news within society. While this should be true, public life seems to be more interested in celebrity life and news of meaningless information such as new gadgets, new fashion accessories, or other items lacking intelligent stimulation and thus deteriorating the public sphere, or what the public sphere is meant to be an outlet for. The public sphere should be used to educate others on the current news with political parties, or global crises, not superfluous events, but instead public life seems to be more concerned with following celebrities, their new fashion trends, and of course the growing need for new gadgets introduced to the public.  These issues, consuming our public life, are deteriorating the main use of the public sphere, and the responsibility and ownership our public should take on understanding global society and American issues.  Also, after reading some of the chapters for this upcoming class, the lack of accountability among the public intellectuals, who share their knowledge with the public, makes it hard for the public sphere to exist.  Public intellectuals should be held accountable for the information being shared, and display this information for all to take part in and evaluate based off their knowledge and understanding of the subject.  This ability to interact, debate, and counteract with individuals is what the public sphere was meant to initiate.  The discussion amongst individuals is necessary and helps to form a better understanding, and different views, of major events within the American society as well as globally. I believe individuals in society need to start becoming more involved with the media and the information regarding not only our political debates, but also that of our international cultures, and become more aware of the world.  If we can become more interactive with the media and the news within society, we can formulate the public sphere back to what it was intended for, and have more discussion based interactions with other people, thus forming a better understanding of the knowledge around certain topics that some people may specialize in over those topics we understand in greater depth.