NOTE: This is not an “anti-intellectual” post.
Intellectual is great.
Smug, arrogant, rude intellectual is NOT.
A lot of today’s crusading intellectuals seem to me – in an Einstein-ian “rebel against religious indoctrination” sense – to be compensating for the fact that they were picked on and made fun of in the not-too-distant past for being geeky, dorky, nerdy, and/or smart.
In the not-too-distant past when they were kids, that is, and being geeky/dorky/nerdy/smart was NOT considered “cool”.
Now, was it ABSURD and HORRIBLE that people were made fun of for these reasons?
YES. No qualifications. YES. I WAS ONE OF THEM.
Does it therefore make it justifiable for the people who still harbor resentment over these childhood slights to act EXACTLY THE SAME WAY towards people they consider stupid?
NO. No qualifications. NO. I’m NOT one of them, TG/TloG.
When I make fun of someone for being stupid, it’s because they’re an a$$hole – who also happens to be stupid. But “a$$hole” is the key to the equation, not “stupid”.
Some people are less smart than others.
Doesn’t make them “less” of a person any more than being less: attractive, “cool”, popular, fashionable, successful, rich, famous…
I mean, it’s sad really: I see groups of “intellectuals” gather together at the metaphorical school lunch table and trade smart comments and make fun of all the not-as-cool “dumb” people…
And it’s DEJA VU…of the groups of jocks and preps gathered together at the school lunch table (really) trading sports and fashion comments and making fun of all the not-as-cool “geeky/dorky/nerdy/smart” people.
Everyone is ignorant of something. A true intellectual seeks to teach those that wish to learn, not mock those that haven’t yet.
The Crusading Intellectual – as the CA/A – seeks not to educate for the sake of educating. They seek to insult and degrade, for the purpose of inflating their own feelings of self-worth.
-Puppy >.< Yip!