Yesterday, I had Shabbat lunch with the rabbi of my synagogue, who recently received his Ph.D in English Literature from Columbia (on the work of James Joyce). Reflecting on the experience, he noted that while the quality of our political discourse has never seemed shallower (I don't agree, but it is a common perception), other areas such as the study of literature (not exactly a news-flash; click here and here for people who regularly cover this) and the rabbinate (maybe I'll do a post soon about the latter) have been rabidly politicized as politics has spread "like a germ" (his quote) into other areas of life.
Whether the rabbi is correct about the spread of politics is worth a separate discussion, which I don't feel like getting into right now. But what is one area where the forces of reason and evidence are in the ascent, forcing the retreat of prejudice and politics? That's right - thanks to Billy Beane and friends, baseball management is shaping up. It may be time to update Earl Warren's famous quote about why he read the sports pages first; the sports pages may now provide something more than who won a game - namely, a guide to error-correcting, which is indispensable.