"Intellectual" is a dirty word.

Re: BBB


Damn fine words.

That was one of the best posts I've read in a long time.

BTW, you're spot on about the first type. They make lousy spouses, too (I should know), for exactly the reasons you stated. They may be of some value for the common good, but for themselves...not so much.

I repeat;
An intellectual is one who tries to use his or her intellect to work, study, reflect, speculate, or ask and answer questions about a wide variety of different ideas.

I haven't followed this all that closely, but am I seeing Foof instructing Roberta?



Blinks, reaches for chair.

Ah, but Dys...you're a prime example of the second type!

Those of the first type often try to apply their intellect to a wide variety of issues, but it doesn't take long for others to figure out they don't know what they're talking about outside of their specialized area.

(In fact, we have a few of those right here on A2K, don't we!)

I believe these are the people targeted by the bigots.

I remember an early thread on a2k where I was summarily and with dispatch negated as any kind of possible intellectual.

Well, damn.

On the other hand, I would have made it ok in countries where they were decimating so called intellectuals. Except that I wore glassess, so there, done for.

Ya'll misunderestimate the Dys.

He has edjamacation beyond a lot of ya's....

(Sorry pops)

I don't, BTW

RH

Given my choice, I will always go with what I call a true polymath...someone that could not only design a bridge, but also physically build it themselves. I suppose to most people a polymath would fall into the same category as an intellectual, but I see them having different traits...

Intellectuals...thinkers.
Average Joe....doers.
Polymaths....a combo of both.

I have met several highly educated people that are simply dumb as dirt, and just as many uneducated folk that are brilliant....really just depends on what you are looking for...or what you ask of them.

I don't believe, nor have I said, that education equals intellectualism. Intellectualism is an attitude based on discovery and analyis with the understanding that one may change one's comphresion of a phenomena. I have a dear friend who has an M.D. and a PhD and was hired by a top ten university because the university felt they were turning out highly trained technical PhD's who were, essentially, ignorant because they had no understanding of any subject (except for engineering/computer science/mathematics/medicine). he developed a program which all candidates were required to complete before being granted their PhD which consisted of Art/Philosophy/History of religion/Literature/History (from Aristophanes to Kurt Vonnegut to Virgin Wolfe).

I'm outta there, I've lived my life without V. Wolfe.

Me too, huh....

I am now in a time warp, gooogling to catch up...

Osso?

Love a duck if googling gets you to Osso.





Be calm, my sweet. Retain interest in your own mind. And have some ice cream.

Dairy is not me friend, but you are...

V wolfe.....

Good for your "dear friend," Dys! That was a very wise thing to do.

Dys, my sweet, I doubt that Virginia Wolfe was a virgin for more than a very few years, but moving right along...she and Kurt Vonnegut, Aristophanes, et al, were only mentioned to provide an example of the kind of learning the top ten university felt was necessary to provide a truly well rounded education to those who's field was basically technical. An example, I believe, that follows 2packs definition of someone who not only knows how things work but also knows why they work and how to work them.

Another excellent example is Dys' grandfather. He was only allowed to attend school through third grade because, as a halfbreed and the system felt that he wouldn't need any further education. But by then, he was an avid reader who continued to read for the rest of his life. He read while he was working for the railroad until a train took off one of his arms at which time they fired him because he was of no use to them anymore. He continued to read after coming in from working on his farm and doing the same job farmers with two arms were doing. Some of the devices he built to help his disability would be considered assistive technology these days.

In other words, he was a brilliant man with a curious mind, always ready to learn from others without the need to protect his opinion of himself with a false sense of self importance. His was a truly extraordinary education--an education mostly attained by continually learning whatever he could with whatever was at hand, never attending a college or university. His grandfather had an education that was far more thorough than many college graduates today. Dys would include him in the definition of "intellectual" right along with those brilliant PhD's.

I think that, too often, we tend to define something according to our own experiences rather than looking at the subject rationally and objectively.

The above is only my opinion, written as a person who tends to babble and is obviously not an intellectual. I don't need that title to define myself or my self-worth, which might explain why I don't think of "intellectual" as a dirty word.

No, you didn't....and my post was just my random two cents, I'm not trying to argue the "real" meaning of the word.

My vision of an intellectual is something like....a 60's professor, goatee, corduroy suit, smoking a pipe, sitting in his office, walls lined with degrees, discussing with his professor pals, was William Shakespeare "really" William Shakespeare. Not the "intelligent/smart" plumber, cop, or bank teller that tries to gain a deeper understanding of a specific subject, or just things in general, to better themselves or others...in short, someone using their brains.

It's the connotation of the "know it all elitist" that has been attached to the word "intellectual", that causes the knee jerk reactions.

Awesome.

Yes, by definition, he would be an intellectual...and honestly I suppose that I would be considered by some to also be an int...intell....one of those people, but if anyone ever called me that to my face...ohhh man, it would be on.

Intellectualism is important to me, but more so a kind heart.

2packs, Dys wouldn't include himself in that category mainly because it would be embarrassing and because he wasn't trying to make a list or to name names, with the exception of GeorgeOB and Thomas who are both apt examples of the word in its very best meaning.

I might be the only one who knows as much about Dys to include him in the category. He has been a farmer, rancher, child protection director and many other things--in other words, the kind of person your definition describes. His grandfather was the most important person in his life.

The negative connotation of an intellectual is, I think, well deserved by those petty tyrants with the elbow patches and the pipe (full of spit) they are always playing with.

You won't come out and describe yourself as an intellectual, neither will Rockhead, but I have a feeling you both fit the description. To me, it's a shame that the word has become almost an insult, because an intellectual is the type of person every society needs.

Chumly, I'm with you. A kind heart is vital, and I am one who would die without knowing plenty of kind hearts. But intellectuals are vital in a different way. I guess too many of them trip up on their own egos--yet GeorgeOB and Thomas are not like that at all. Their mind, education and power of analysis are beyond most of us here. They can tear an arguement apart without leaving the recipient's sense of self shredded. They represent the very best of what an intellectual really is. And on a2k, there are several people from all walks of life who also fit the best meaning of the word.

I'm off to bed. Say goodnight, Gracie.