Possible Discussion Questions: Week 4

Submitted by Katharine R. E. Sims on Monday, 10/4/2010, at 9:18 PM

Gore, "The Assault on Reason"; Ehrlich "The MAHB, the Culture Gap, and Some Really Inconvenient Truths"

Note: these questions are possible areas for discussion in response to the "standard" discussion questions. ("What was the point the author was trying to make?" "How did the author support his/her point?" "What are the strengths of this reading?" "What are its weaknesses?")

1. How are Gore's arguments similar to or different from Hardin's? How does Gore's view of human nature contrast with those presented (implicitly or explicitly) by Ehrlich, Carson, Hardin and Safina?

2. Do you agree or disagree with Gore's statement on p. 251 that "Education alone is necessary but insufficient. An educated citizenry is more likely to be a well-informed citizenry, but the two concepts are entirely different, one from the other." How is this statement relevant for environmental issues such as climate change?

3. Do you agree or disagree with Gore that television has fundamentally changed the nature of public debate? What about the internet? Does Gore offer a way out of the problems that he sees?

4. Ehrlich says: "The admittedly ambitious aim [of the MAHB] is to change human behavior to avoid a collapse of global civilization." What does he have in mind? What do you think about this solution? Ehrlich also says that there should be more resources devoted to scientific efforts to understand human nature? How is this different from Gore's argument?