The conviction expressed by Taylor Mali (2010) is that Americans need to do more than question authority; they need "to speak with it too." Mali (2010) maintains that there are so many conflicted feelings, personal opinions and beliefs in society that we have adopted the "wisdom of the bumper sticker" instead of using declarative statements with conviction and authority to denote what is true. This is very similar to Plato's Dividing Line theory and Cave of Shadows analogy regarding truth. People are trapped in the cave thinking the flickers of light and shadows they see are truth, when they are just "sensory" impression in the "realm of the visible" (Plato, 2008, p. 101). It is only when individuals use reason to reach the intelligible realm where "truth and intelligence" are produced (Plato, 2008, p. 101).
Plato's Divide Line theory also relates to Mali's theory of truth and conviction, with different levels of knowledge like Eikasia or the lowest level of awareness which is the inability to understand reality from appearances like those in the Myth of the Cave who focus on the shadow "puppets" (Plato, 2008, p. 101). The lower part of the line is opinion which is comprised of an upper portion known as belief or Pistis (Plato, 360 B.C.E.). Episteme is knowledge and only thinking or Dianola leads to wisdom (Plato, 360 B.C.E.). In Theaetetus Socrates rejects certain kinds of knowledge, arguing that the final form of knowledge is true belief that has been "given account of," meaning it has been defined or explained in some rational manner (Plato, 360 B.C.E.).
In today's pluralistic society, it is difficult to speak with conviction and jump off the "bandwagon of uncertainty," because we are always under intense scrutiny from media and feel foolish if we err, even if those errors lead to discovery of ultimate truth. Likewise, in a pluralistic democracy we often value each individual's opinion with re...