Perspicacity

The word "intellectual" carries a negative connotation with me. It seems so uppity. If someone identifies himself as an intellectual, others may be intimidated by his advanced intellectual capabilities. It might preclude a meaningful discussion between two people.

No reason for this, I guess. Course I don't necessarily have to have one, it's just my opinion.

Someone who lives their own life, and develops their own resources,
understandings, awareness and desires. Deliberately.

The conscious creation of who we are
by making informed choices.






I choose . . . bandwidth!

I like Albert Camus' explanation.

Only a fool would CLAIM to be an "intellectual." (The term "intellectual" should be conferred by others based on some form of criteria.)

However only a fool would think that being "an intellectual" is a bad thing.

Says something about fools, I guess. More than happy to claim to be what they despise.

I think it's an absolute shame that "intellectual" is a dirty word. And the root of a great many problems.

People seem split on this topic. Some people view being an intellectual as a negative light while other see it as being positive.

Intellectual obviously comes from the word intellect which is defined above. I think everyone can agree that people learn and reason on a daily basis, but if simply reasoning and learning were all there was to being an intellectual, then everyone would qualify and the term would lose it's meaning. Usually when someone "learns" something they are accepting it as "fact" whatever the common wisdom dictates or whatever they are told to think by authorities.

An intellectual, in my opinion, is someone who tries to go a step further by learning and reasoning in a more critical and aporetic manner. As Camus said "An intellectual is someone whos mind watches itself" meaning they are critical about what they are learning and skeptical avoiding developing too much emotional attachment to beliefs misleading them so that when something is discovered that goes against what they think they reject it and don't listen to the other side. They deliberate on their reasoning in order to discover flaws or errors which would undermine the facts of their beliefs.

Let's look at what is NOT intellectual:

Brain Cramps

Question: If you could live forever, would you and why?
Answer: "I would not live forever, because we should not live forever, because if we were supposed to live forever, then we would live forever, but we cannot live forever, which is why I would not live forever," --Miss Alabama in the 1994 Miss USA contest

...gets out of his seat takes his hat off and begins to cry as he claps.


What power in her words

Why do I feel insulted right now? :wink:



Hmm.. I really like this definition. Although I would never label myself as an intellectual (see parados above) these are qualities which I think all people should strive for.

I think the reason why I don't like the word intellectual is because of the 'holier than thou' mentality that more often than not seems to follow. People who are labeled intellectuals must be continually reminded (by themselves or others) that to do so does not confer any higher status as a human being. I worry about it, that's all.

I think when someone takes on ANY label
they begin to be phony, trying to conform to something outside themselves.
It's pretentious, and image-making. The image of what an "xyz" must be,
loaded full of bigotry, "supposed-to" rules, "levels" and expectations.

So many people put their own lives aside, in order to be a "good" this or that.
But image-making, conforming to a simple stereotype, can be applied in any area.

Some like it. Some don't.
When I accidentally bother to judge it, I usually judge it as negative.


An "intellectual" is thus a stereotype, and carries all the same dangers.
But an intellectual (with no quotes) is simply someone who has decided to use
and build their intellect, in their own chosen way.

Why not think about stuff, and try to be awake and aware,
if it's not compulsively numbing or out-of-balance to the rest of our life?

It sounds pretty nice, doesn't it?
If I had some way of judging it, and some reason to,
I think I might inadvertently label it as a good thing.

But I wouldn't go out of my way.