Location: The Heritage Foundation's Lehrman Auditorium

Outraged by the downward spiral of American intellect and culture, Michael R. LeGault offers the flip side of Malcolm Gladwell's bestselling phenomenon, Blink, which theorized that our best decision-making is done on impulse, without factual knowledge or critical analysis. If bestselling books are advising us to not think, LeGault argues, it comes as no surprise that sharp, incisive reasoning has become a lost art in the daily life of Americans. Somewhere along the line, the Age of Reason morphed into the Age of Emotion; and this systemic erosion is costing time, money, jobs, and lives in the 21st Century, leading to less fulfillment and growing dysfunction. Among the characteristics LeGault addresses are: permissive parenting and low standards that have caused an academic crisis among our children; America's growing political polarization from our reluctance to think outside of comfort zones; faulty planning and failure to act on information at all levels of society; a culture of image and instant gratification that has rendered curiosity of the mind and spirit all but obsolete; and the aversion to taking risks that is replacing the traditional American "can do" mind-set.

Far from perpetuating the stereotype of the complacent American, LeGault's analysis asks more of us than any other societal overview: America can fulfill its greatest potential starting today, and we need smart teachers, smart health care workers, smart sales representatives, smart students, smart mechanics, and smart leaders to make it happen.

Michael R. LeGault is an award-winning editor and writer, and a former columnist for The Washington Times. An American citizen based in Toronto, he has worked for and been a consultant to major U.S. companies on health, safety, environmental, and quality issues. LeGault received his B.S. from the University of Michigan and his M.S. from the University of Miami, Florida. Currently, he is an editor at the National Post (Canada).