This little tidbit surprised me the most. After thinking about this for a while, I find it very interesting that a newspaper looks for input from the "public intellectuals" instead of the people directly affected by the current event. I felt a bit foolish after reading this, because I tend to believe the "public intellectuals" or self-proclaimed experts in news articles without much hesistation.

I understand the idea that Grossman is making. However, i'm confused as to how he established this idea. Is it impossible for a world in constant change to come up with it's own ideas?

I agree with this statement. However, I don't like the way the author phrases it. The first sentence dismisses facts and dates as a part of history. I believe facts and dates are extremely important in the context of "history".