Trivialization and Public Opinion : Slogans, Substance, and Styles of Thought in the Age of Complexity

Centering on public discourse and its fundamental lapses, this book takes a unique look at key barriers to social and political advancement in the information age. Public discourse is replete with confident, easy to manage claims, intuitions, and other shortcuts; outstanding of these is trivialization, the trend to distill multifaceted dilemmas to binary choices, neglect the big picture, gloss over alternatives, or filter reality through a lens of convenience―leaving little room for nuance and hence debate. Far from superficial, such lapses are symptoms of deeper, intrinsically connected shortcomings inviting further attention. Focusing primarily on industrialized democracies, the authors take their readers on a transdisciplinary journey into the world of trivialization, engaging as they do so the intricate issues borne of a modern environment both enabled and constrained by technology. Ultimately, the authors elaborate upon the emerging counterweights to conventional worldviews and the paradigmatic alternatives that promise to help open new avenues for progress.

Oldrich Bubak is a scholar and author focusing on society, politics, and technology. He is currently at McMaster University, Canada, where he conducts research in comparative public policy.

Henry Jacek is Professor Emeritus of Political Science and Public Policy at McMaster University, Canada. His teaching and research has focused on the organization of political life and the establishment and implementation of public policies.