the dishonesty and lack of objectivity in books defending opinions

[roger]

Something has become very clear to me, as I've come across books which support various perspectives, whether spiritual, political, scientific, or otherwise.

 

I've never once in my entire life seen such a book in which the author didn't have a personal, emotional investment in defending their point of view.

 

Where is the honesty, the objectivity? It seems that every author has an ego agenda of defending their opinions.

[Marblehead]

Something has become very clear to me, as I've come across books which support various perspectives, whether spiritual, political, scientific, or otherwise.

 

I've never once in my entire life seen such a book in which the author didn't have a personal, emotional investment in defending their point of view.

 

Where is the honesty, the objectivity? It seems that every author has an ego agenda of defending their opinions.

 

It's part of our (the world) changing societies.  Nearly everyone has an agenda now-a-days.

[Stosh]

And if one expresses uncertainty or mixed feelings ,even if well considered, the public rejects that they havent been pandered to with a polemically simple presentation. They want everything to fall into a predictable pattern they can scan like cliffs notes, and imperiously judge. In days gone by ,nuance and complexity were appreciated, I dont think the authors have changed as much as the public's expectations and publishers role. Thats my guess... though acedemia has always had to distinguish themselves, or , Why buy their book?

Try reading some bird identification handbooks though, ,theres a lot of commonality.

Edited March 5, 2017 by Stosh

[Brian]

If you can chart out the structures that are present with respect to the subject that is discussed and, after doing this, map them onto the actual subject as it exists in reality, then the author's opinion doesn't matter. Whether they're for or against doesn't matter, if you can do this then you have transcended their opinion and engaged with the fact of the matter.

How do you map structures onto the actual subject as it exists in reality if the purpose for reading something is to learn an unfamiliar subject?

[Stosh]

"Just the facts m'am "

[C T]

How do you map structures onto the actual subject as it exists in reality if the purpose for reading something is to learn an unfamiliar subject?

Do you see this as the primary reason why reading is such an addictive activity, that people are actually interested in gaining knowledge, to make the unfamiliar, familiar?

 

Perhaps you are right... A quick search on the net showed that a survey found 26% of people read to access new information and knowledge, contrasted against 15% who said they are captivated by the pleasure of pure fantasy, a means of escaping current reality, and an avenue to exercise the imagination. Only 4% cited spiritual enrichment as their main motive. 

 

 

 

The same survey found roughly 2% of buyers cited the reason for doing so was simply due to being attracted to the feel and the smell of books. Measure this against an annual global publishing turnover of US $113 billion, and no sign of declining sales anytime soon, in all likelihood there is already a ripening demand for chocolate, fresh linen, or coffee-aromatised magazines, even books. Perhaps even edible ones! Whoever takes the lead on this can and will certainly tap into a share of this burgeoning billion dollar industry.   

Edited March 5, 2017 by C T

[Orion]

I've done publishing before and if you really want to break into "the industry", prepare to have your work modified by powers greater than yourself. The corporate model has infiltrated every aspect of living. If your work is not structured in a way that is known to sell according to established models and statistics, it's unlikely that your work will be given the time of day. The "agenda" is built in by most people who are willing to sacrifice a bit of their values in order to have their message reach a broader audience. When you also factor in that being a writer in the 21st century only pays if you engage in mass production of material, you have the reasons for the current paradigm.

 

People who want to do things their way and preserve their original voice either have to do at-home publishing (which is actually a lot more feasible now than before), or they need to create their own publishing startup to make it happening. However, most startups quickly realize that in order to remain competitive and adhere to the almighty growth model of business, they need to start adopting the very corporate models that they claimed to be against at the start.

 

Everything that is unique and small-time in the business world gets obliterated by mechanistic models if it becomes popular enough.