Essay: On American Exceptionalism By Vernon Crumrine If we simply wish something to be true, we immediately are holding out a cognitive bias

as to the possibilities that something we want to occur will in fact occur. In so doing, we thus allow our imagination free rein; and it is our imagination that effectively rules over rationality. Even as positive as our wish might happen to be, there can still exist a certain amount of blindness to the harsh light of reality. This may not necessarily be willful blindness on our part, but it is a type of blindness nonetheless. On the other hand, in expressing our hopefulness rather than simply wishing something to be so, while we may also exhibit a positive and optimistic approach to what it is that we desire to be true, rationality yet again proves to be more of a driving force. So in this case our confidence originates not in the form of a mere wish, but instead has at least some measure of a relatively sound basis for believing what it is that we hope. It is difficult at best to allow ourselves the luxury to wish for, let alone to hope where we as a nation may be some years down the road. For most of our history, weve readily accepted both the mantle as well as the rather noble idea of American exceptionalism. Yet many other great nations which came into existence long before us also once believed they occupied that lofty, mythical position. But then times, things, and of course people perhaps most of all, do change. Humorist and author Garrison Keillors superior folks who supposedly inhabit the mythical Lake Wobegon serve up visions of what is perhaps more of a wished-for than a hoped-for society. Keillor boldly describes the town as a place Where all the men are handsome, all the women are strong, and all the kids are above average. Of course the possibilities that any one group of people would always and forever be in possession of such admittedly superior traits is little more than either the product of something simply wished for or an over-active imagination. Reality should instruct us that something much different is in fact afoot. Realistically, and rationally, we realize that not everyone could possibly be above average. Will Durant once said, The trouble with most people is that they think with their hopes or fears or wishes rather than with their minds. It could be, then, that for the most part we should try to be neither wishful nor hopeful, but instead thoughtful; and that we would desire that particular state of being not only for ourselves, but for all men. In the end, what we call a good life should not depend upon our wishes and our hopes as much as it depends upon our ability to co-exist with others in this increasingly crowded and complex world.