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second Thoughts: seeing Conventional Wisdom Through the Sociological Eye. 3d ed. Janet M. Ruane and Karen A. Cerulo. Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press. 2004. 306 pages. $34.95.
Much of people's everyday perceptions and actions are guided by "conventional wisdoms," which serve as the focus of Janet M. Ruane's and Karen A. Cerulo's second Thoughts: seeing Conventional Wisdom Through the Sociological Eye. As Ruane and Cerulo cogently illustrate, these conventional wisdoms are often misleading and, worse, can be self-defeating when used to define social relationships or to determine social policies.
In clear, concise, easy-to-follow examples, Ruane and Cerulo address nearly two dozen conventional wisdoms about social life, including, for example, commonly-held notions such as "winning is everything," "money is the root of all evil," "America is the land of equal opportunity," "violence is on the rise," "marriage is a failing institution," and "technology is taking over our...