Jon Margolis (July 21), referring to professors of communication, asked the rhetorical question: ”Didn`t there used to be a time when you had to major in real academic subjects? Physics? History?” Clearly he is in need of an answer. The academic study of communication can be traced back to the study of rhetoric, the study of public discourse, a subject that was taught at the original Academy in ancient Greece and which was an essential part of Western education for more than 2,000 years. Many of our early presidents studied it; John Quincy Adams taught rhetoric at Harvard.
Communication professors, then and now, study-among other things-public argument. They might use Mr. Margolis` essay as a sample text and note that no evidence is presented about who those professors of communication (or
”fatuous futurologists”) were or what they said that was so lacking in substance or so ”dangerous”; we have only his insults and innuendo to go on. They might also point out the fallaciousness of his key argument-that
”if institutions have lasted for a couple of centuries, they probably have a lot of staying power,” that ”They didn`t get that old by being unable to change.”
The implication that such institutions are proven worthwhile by their longevity might as easily have been used to justify allowing slavery time ”to adjust.” Perhaps Mr. Margolis` efforts to defend the established institutions of his choosing might benefit from learning more from and about those which he attacks.
