The Virtue of Curiosity

U.S. colleges - dare they venture intellectually into the Great Unknown? Mark Lilla, of Columbia, writes:

The unfortunate fact is that American academics have until recently shown little curiosity about conservative ideas, even though those ideas have utterly transformed American (and British) politics over the past 30 years.

He goes on to describe some interesting academics attempts to overcome their aversion and actually study the strange ways of right-wing thinking.

Even if a school of thought makes you furious,
and you're sure its proponents are jerks,
you'll understand it better if you're curious
about how it internally works.