Are Americans thinking less and arguing more? An opinion column and a letter-to-the-editor in Stars and Stripes raise that question. The column, by Susan Jacoby, was first published in the Los Angeles Times. It argues that Americans' reluctance to listen to opposing points of view is one of the factors causing what she sees as the dumbing down of American public life. The letter, from a soldier in Afghanistan, Sgt. Paul Wade, agrees with Jacoby and says the decline of newspapers is making the situation worse.

Each makes some sound points, it seems to me. One wishes Jacoby hadn't let her own philosophy seep through. (A secularist who complains about being badly outdrawn by a conservative speaker on the college lecture circuit, she upbraids the media for not probing deals the U.S.is making with some Iraqi factions "without submitting the terms to Congress for ratification.") But it's hard to argue against her central thesis.

"Ironically, the unprecedented array of choices, on hundreds of cable channels and the Web, have contributed to the decline of common knowledge and the denigration of fairness by both the right and the left," she writes.

And also: "There is a direct connection between the debasement of political discourse and the public's tendency to tune out any voice that is not an echo."

Wade gets more specific. "I've heard it said that the death of the newspaper in America is going to be bad for American thought and intellectualism," he writes."....Newspapers like Stripes present readers with news they wouldn't seek out, with thoughts and opinions they may have never heard or care to hear." His advice: It's fine to argue with what you read, but do it with facts.

Newspaper reading is down, sure, but it's death is by no means a foregone conclusion. Because of the medium itself -- encouraging the expenditure of more than a few minutes with the printed news and opinions -- newspapers are a good way to keep informed. I'm sure Jacoby and Wade would agree, though, that careful use of the Web, and even cable, is valuable too. It all comes down to absorbing information with an open mind.