Videocrux - Democracy's Choice: Books or Bumper Stickers

#Videocrux - Democracy's Choice: Books or Bumper Stickers Democracy's Choice: Books or Bumper Stickers
Yale University presents "democracy's choice" by Prof. Stephen Carter, William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Law, Yale Law School
Prof. Stephen Carter explains what democracy exactly is and its implications
Democracy is a system in which either the metaphorical governing is carried out by the people governed (direct democracy), or the power to do so is granted by them (as in representative democracy).
Bumper stickers symbolize ones ideas, basically a way to simplify complex issues
Bumper stickers can be commercial, religious, secular, humorous, or in support of a sports team or other organization. They may promote or oppose a particular philosophical or political position. Bumper stickers are a popular way of showing support for a candidate for a government seat and become more common during election years.
Books in their basic nature represents complexity, issues that are difficult
Fahrenheit 451 is a dystopian novel authored by Ray Bradbury and first published in 1951. The novel has been subject to various interpretations, primarily focusing on the historical role of book burning in suppressing dissenting ideas. Bradbury has stated that the novel is not about censorship, but is a story of how television destroys interest in reading literature, leading to a replacement of knowledge with "factoids", partial information devoid of context.
Thurgood Marshall's life and his influence on Prof. Stephen Carter
Following graduation from Yale, Carter served as a law clerk for Judge Spottswood W. Robinson III of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and, subsequently, for US Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall. Thurgood Marshall (July 2, 1908 – January 24, 1993) was an American jurist and the first African American to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States. Before becoming a judge, he was a lawyer who was best remembered for his high success rate in arguing before the Supreme Court and for the victory in Brown v. Board of Education. He was nominated to the court by President Lyndon Johnson in 1967.
"We live in an era where people on the other side of our belief are our enemies"

The logical difference between reading a physical book and reading online
Initially, any new information medium seems to degrade reading because it disturbs the balance between focal and peripheral attention. This was true as early as the invention of writing, which Plato complained hollowed out focal memory. Similarly, William Wordsworth’s sister complained that he wasted his mind in the newspapers of the day. It takes time and adaptation before a balance can be restored, not just in the “mentality” of the reader, as historians of the book like to say, but in the social systems that complete the reading environment. Reading on screen requires slightly more effort and thus is more tiring, but the differences are small and probably matter only for difficult tasks. Paper retains substantial advantages, though, for types of reading that require flipping back and forth between pages, such as articles with end notes or figures.
Changing face of libraries is reducing the idea of books as source of information

Prof. Stephen Carter answers questions after the seminar

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