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I am an Intellectual and Proud of it
Nov. 21st, 2004 08:37 amFrom Dictionary.Com
in·tel·lec·tu·al Pronunciation Key (ntl-kch-l)
adj.
1.
A. Of or relating to the intellect.
B. Rational rather than emotional.
2. Appealing to or engaging the intellect: an intellectual book; an intellectual problem.
3.
A. Having or showing intellect, especially to a high degree.
B. Given to activities or pursuits that require exercise of the intellect.
noun
An intellectual person.
I want to know when intellectual became a bad word. I apparently missed the memo. I was reading through of the lists that I occasionally peruse since sometimes it yields interesting information. I saw one person who is rather taken by the sound of their Internet “voice” who had an egregious factual error in their post which could be corrected by a short visit to another site. A few others were trying to get her to see the fallacy that she had posted but this person couldn’t get a clue even if you hit her with a clue by four. So I posted the website with the correct information and sited several other sources which supported the website. She came back with a stream of “why are you always dragging facts into it? I was trying to have some fun and you ruined it you you Intellectual!”
I have always been proud that I am a child of two college professors. Being smart was regarded as a gift in my family. Being able to make a logical argument and back it up with facts was just part of life when I was growing up. Most of my friends when I was in public school were children of professors at the local college. My high school was well known for its intellectuals and scholars. Many of the senior class took at least one advanced class outside the school. Mine was in physics at the local science center. Being smart was a badge you could wear proudly at my school.
Recently I have noticed an anti-intellectual sentiment running through both the Internet and the real world. Smart people are being looking down on or brush off as too smart. Being too smart apparently is now a bad thing. “Smart people don’t have a true grasp of reality.” “Intellectuals think they know what the rest of us need but they haven’t any idea how the world really works.” “My professor wouldn’t last a week working a real job.” (side rant: Professors are very hard working as are teachers of any form. These are not nice 9 to 5 jobs where you leave work and don’t have to think about it anymore. Teachers have a lot of homework to do to everyday too.) “You are too smart for your own good.” We even saw this sort of thing in our last round of political elections both local and national.
So I am going to take a stand and say proudly I am an Intellectual. I think and enjoy thinking. I like math and science and other intellectual pursuits.
I am grateful I was raised to believe knowledge is a good thing to have.
in·tel·lec·tu·al Pronunciation Key (ntl-kch-l)
adj.
1.
A. Of or relating to the intellect.
B. Rational rather than emotional.
2. Appealing to or engaging the intellect: an intellectual book; an intellectual problem.
3.
A. Having or showing intellect, especially to a high degree.
B. Given to activities or pursuits that require exercise of the intellect.
noun
An intellectual person.
I want to know when intellectual became a bad word. I apparently missed the memo. I was reading through of the lists that I occasionally peruse since sometimes it yields interesting information. I saw one person who is rather taken by the sound of their Internet “voice” who had an egregious factual error in their post which could be corrected by a short visit to another site. A few others were trying to get her to see the fallacy that she had posted but this person couldn’t get a clue even if you hit her with a clue by four. So I posted the website with the correct information and sited several other sources which supported the website. She came back with a stream of “why are you always dragging facts into it? I was trying to have some fun and you ruined it you you Intellectual!”
I have always been proud that I am a child of two college professors. Being smart was regarded as a gift in my family. Being able to make a logical argument and back it up with facts was just part of life when I was growing up. Most of my friends when I was in public school were children of professors at the local college. My high school was well known for its intellectuals and scholars. Many of the senior class took at least one advanced class outside the school. Mine was in physics at the local science center. Being smart was a badge you could wear proudly at my school.
Recently I have noticed an anti-intellectual sentiment running through both the Internet and the real world. Smart people are being looking down on or brush off as too smart. Being too smart apparently is now a bad thing. “Smart people don’t have a true grasp of reality.” “Intellectuals think they know what the rest of us need but they haven’t any idea how the world really works.” “My professor wouldn’t last a week working a real job.” (side rant: Professors are very hard working as are teachers of any form. These are not nice 9 to 5 jobs where you leave work and don’t have to think about it anymore. Teachers have a lot of homework to do to everyday too.) “You are too smart for your own good.” We even saw this sort of thing in our last round of political elections both local and national.
So I am going to take a stand and say proudly I am an Intellectual. I think and enjoy thinking. I like math and science and other intellectual pursuits.
I am grateful I was raised to believe knowledge is a good thing to have.
