These professionals take pride in their ac­complishments, and may even enjoy the respect of an American public that admires success no matter how it is achieved. That fact casts doubt on Karl Popper’s concept of open society, which is based on the recognition that, while perfect knowledge is unattainable, we can gain a better understanding of reality by engaging in critical thinking.
这些专业人士以其取得的成就而自豪，而且甚至可能得到崇拜成功而不问成功之道的美国公众的尊敬。这一事实让人们对卡尔波普的开放社会的概念产生怀疑。尽管完善的知识是无法得到的，但是我们可以通过思辩而获得对现实更好的理解。开放社会就是建立在这一认识基础之上。