The Constitution of Knowledge

A Defense of Truth

By: Jonathan Rauch

Narrated by: Traber Burns

Length: 12 hrs and 23 mins

Publisher's summary

Arming Americans to defend the truth from today’s war on facts.

Disinformation. Trolling. Conspiracies. Social media pile-ons. Campus intolerance. On the surface, these recent additions to our daily vocabulary appear to have little in common. But together, they are driving an epistemic crisis: a multifront challenge to America’s ability to distinguish fact from fiction and elevate truth above falsehood.

In 2016, Russian trolls and bots nearly drowned the truth in a flood of fake news and conspiracy theories, and Donald Trump and his troll armies continued to do the same. Social media companies struggled to keep up with a flood of falsehoods and too often didn’t even seem to try. Experts and some public officials began wondering if society was losing its grip on truth itself. Meanwhile, another new phenomenon appeared: “cancel culture”. At the push of a button, those armed with a cellphone could gang up by the thousands on anyone who ran afoul of their sanctimony.

In this pathbreaking book, Jonathan Rauch reaches back to the parallel 18th-century developments of liberal democracy and science to explain what he calls the “Constitution of Knowledge” - our social system for turning disagreement into truth.

By explicating the Constitution of Knowledge and probing the war on reality, Rauch arms defenders of truth with a clearer understanding of what they must protect, why they must do - and how they can do it. His book is a sweeping and listenable description of how every American can help defend objective truth and free inquiry from threats as far away as Russia and as close as the cellphone.

©2021 Jonathan Rauch (P)2021 Blackstone Publishing

Thank You!

For putting into words complex sentiments many of us have long held but could not easily express. Thank you.

For reminding us that truth has in the past and can again in the future triumph over outrage. Thank you.

The accomplishments of humanity in recent history are so vast and wondrous, that the system through which we’ve accomplished it sometimes seems indestructible. Yet this system has gaping vulnerabilities. For dedicating your life to defending this system. Thank you.

A MUST read.

For anyone, with hunger to know how to separate good ideas from bad ideas, you really should read this book. And then send a copy to every politician, academic, voter, and, well, everyone you know.
Excellent!

Brilliant argument

In this book, Rauch defines and describes a constitution of knowledge that is just as critical to freedom and thriving in a democracy as the constitution for government. His insights span both contemporary problems and historical threats to the constitution of knowledge. For those all across the ideological perspective and even those who don’t feel ideological but just want to further truth through a pursuit of objectivity, this book should be required reading.

Good defense for free speech and truth.

I enjoyed it as a follow up to Kindly Inquisitors. Believe about by the physical book to make notes on a future read.

Narrator ruins it

Seriously. Listen to the reader prior. Terrible Trump impression, et al. Not sure why narrators can’t get over themselves and just read.

A really good book

Rauch’s analogy between the constitutional design from James Madison & the way in which our reality-based institutions (science, journalism, law, etc.) are supposed to operate is brilliant. His argument for ensuring that these institutions operate the way they were designed (based on pluralism, a commitment to truth with rules and accountability) is much needed. This book helped clarify my thinking so much on this topic, where it really can be disorienting to know what to believe given how much information is out there.

Great content ... narrator is absolutely horrible

I will be reading this book, as the content is excellent and timely. The author has a clear understanding of human behavior and its outcomes. I will be returning the audiobook. The narrator is like a voice-over for a black and white sex education film shown in a middle school class.

an excellent read for the challenges we face.

The author does a nice job outlining all the threats to free speech and our democracy.

Absolutely ESSENTIAL Reading For Honest People

I was recommended this book by a tweet by Conan O'Brien, and I'm so happy I listened. For anyone with even a passing interest in epistemology (the science of how we know what we know), and/or anyone who values to ANY extent the concept of Truth, this is required reading. Excellent, in all ways.

PINOCCHIO'S NOSE

The structure of knowledge is the subject of Jonathan Rauch’s “…Constitution of Knowledge”.  What may come as a surprise to some is Rauch’s argument that knowledge is a social construct, not an inviolable fact or truth. Knowledge grows from tests of society.

Rauch shows himself to be a free speech believer. One presumes he endorses all free speech if it does not induce or insight violence. This is not to suggest words spoken or written are not harmful, but they are not physically injuring another. Attacking a person physically for words spoken is reprehensible but attacking an idea is societies’ way of revealing the truth and acquiring knowledge. After listening to Rauch’s explanation of what knowledge is and how it is acquired, one wishes a signal could be sent when one is knowingly lying, e.g., something like Pinocchio’s nose.