10 - Refraining

Summary

Chapter 9 observes that scholars routinely use empirical research to challenge Stories. The problem there is that people need some Stories in their lives, wherefore, if those Stories will not endure over time, they will not be able to hold communities together. That is, a scholarly churn of constant inquiry and encouraging doubt creates a danger that conservatives -- such as Andrew Bacevich -- justly warn against, of random momentum in scholarly fashions where the sum total of constantly changing theories can imperil the community’s welfare.