Why is anti-intellectualism so rampant?

I feel like I just did the forum equivalent of a really loud fart and everyone ran away.

I'll let you to it then and crown you thread killer.

show previous quotes

I know that chicks dig nerds.

As long as they look rich in their leased beemers

Nerds rule the world now. Tesla is way more my Nerd style.

Anti-intellectualism serves capitalism, keeps us living in fear, keeps the little man from figuring out he's just living in indentured servitude. There, I said it. *waits for hate mail*

1. Tesla is a very capitalist company... in fact, it is not just capitalist, it is a company with a discretionary consumerist (often satirized as the worst part of capitalism) agenda.
2. Capitalism thrives when there are markets that quickly adapt and adjust for new information. Ill informed or ill educated people make that hard and, consequently, are against the needs of a capitalist economy
3. Well regulated (not necessarily highly regulated) capitalism eliminates the distinction between "capital" and "labor." In our modern, mixed economy, most "labor" are also "capitalists."

1. Tesla is a very capitalist company... in fact, it is not just capitalist, it is a company with a discretionary consumerist (often satirized as the worst part of capitalism) agenda.

I was responding to the assertion that only Nerds with BMWs attract the attention of women. All I was saying is that I prefer Teslas to BMWs. But in all reality, BMW is producing quite a nice electric vehicle, so not really a valid comment on my preferences.

2. Capitalism thrives when there are markets that quickly adapt and adjust for new information. Ill informed or ill educated people make that hard and, consequently, are against the needs of a capitalist economy

Yes, I agree. Would you say that the Capitolism in the US is thriving? Does it serve us well? I didn't think so. I believe this to be directly linked to anti-intellectualism.

3. Well regulated (not necessarily highly regulated) capitalism eliminates the distinction between "capital" and "labor." In our modern, mixed economy, most "labor" are also "capitalists."

I have to admit I'm not completely sure what you're talking about here. Although, in the US (my experience of capitolism "free market") capitolism, labor nor our practices in economics are well regulated. Again, something I think intellectuals would argue is leading to our rapid downfall.

I work in a highly educated profession with plenty of egos and I can tell you than the variance in raw intelligence is every bit as great as I saw in high school. In fact, a friend of mine from high school who never went beyond that is far more intelligent, in my opinion, than a few former colleagues. Degrees =/= intelligence

DITTO -QFT

show previous quotes

Anti-intellectualism serves capitalism, keeps us living in fear, keeps the little man from figuring out he's just living in indentured servitude. There, I said it. *waits for hate mail*

^I've read this somewhere before...

Maybe read Brave New World to get a better perspective where all this could go. Written 20 years before 1984 and maybe scarier in how it seems to playing out. The willingness to sacrifice reason and curiosity and intellectualism will only accelerate the world depicted in that book.

:flowerforyou:

Also watch the movie Idiocracy, it's humorous and scary.

Leave me alone, I'm 'batin'!

LOL!

I don't think it has been mentioned yet, but one thing that really annoys me is when people try to demonstrate superiority through the vocabulary they choose.

A person with some kind of literary or economics degree suddenly sounds so fancy that I'd have to get the same degree to grasp what the point is that they are trying to make. So I have to ask them to "dumb it down" for me and just this once step down from that high horse.

They create barriers to boost the ego, but I highly admire people, who can discuss their area of expertise, whatever it may be, so that both professionals and laymen follow their train of thought.

show previous quotes

I don't think it has been mentioned yet, but one thing that really annoys me is when people try to demonstrate superiority through the vocabulary they choose.

A person with some kind of literary or economics degree suddenly sounds so fancy that I'd have to get the same degree to grasp what the point is that they are trying to make. So I have to ask them to "dumb it down" for me and just this once step down from that high horse.

They create barriers to boost the ego, but I highly admire people, who can discuss their area of expertise, whatever it may be, so that both professionals and laymen follow their train of thought.

Speak to the crowd, not as you speak to your peers?

I think I get your point (English isn't my first language). I meant that one adjusts one's way of explaining according to the audience and its needs. A great way to alienate patients is by using doctor speak to create that barrier, be it intentional or not. A patient should always understand what is being said and if not then the doctor is crappy.

THIS

show previous quotes

I don't think it has been mentioned yet, but one thing that really annoys me is when people try to demonstrate superiority through the vocabulary they choose.

A person with some kind of literary or economics degree suddenly sounds so fancy that I'd have to get the same degree to grasp what the point is that they are trying to make. So I have to ask them to "dumb it down" for me and just this once step down from that high horse.

They create barriers to boost the ego, but I highly admire people, who can discuss their area of expertise, whatever it may be, so that both professionals and laymen follow their train of thought.

Those who feel the need to showcase their intelligence with a convoluted vocabulary have proven to be copycats with no original thought of their own. They quote all the great philosophers then claim their philosophical. At least this has been my experience.

Good Will Hunting comes to mind, both when the Harvard guy got pawned and when the shrink schooled the boy in matters of the heart.

OP is giving me a whole Otto from A Fish Called Wanda vibe....

"Apes don't read philosphy"
"Yes they do, Otto. They just don't understand it. Now let me correct you on a couple of things, OK? Aristotle was not Belgian. The central message of Buddhism is not "Every man for himself." And the London Underground is not a political movement. Those are all mistakes, Otto. I looked them up. "

show previous quotes

I don't think it has been mentioned yet, but one thing that really annoys me is when people try to demonstrate superiority through the vocabulary they choose.

A person with some kind of literary or economics degree suddenly sounds so fancy that I'd have to get the same degree to grasp what the point is that they are trying to make. So I have to ask them to "dumb it down" for me and just this once step down from that high horse.

They create barriers to boost the ego, but I highly admire people, who can discuss their area of expertise, whatever it may be, so that both professionals and laymen follow their train of thought.

Those who feel the need to showcase their intelligence with a convoluted vocabulary have proven to be copycats with no original thought of their own. They quote all the great philosophers then claim their philosophical. At least this has been my experience.

Good Will Hunting comes to mind, both when the Harvard guy got pawned and when the shrink schooled the boy in matters of the heart.

I've never seen it.

If you can't express your thoughts in single or two-syllabal words and in less than 3 or 4 sentences then you should be discussing rocket science or you need to give up. Just my two cents and expressing my approach to drafting memoranda and contracts.

Have you read The Laws of Simplicity by John Maeda? You might enjoy it.

show previous quotes

I don't think it has been mentioned yet, but one thing that really annoys me is when people try to demonstrate superiority through the vocabulary they choose.

A person with some kind of literary or economics degree suddenly sounds so fancy that I'd have to get the same degree to grasp what the point is that they are trying to make. So I have to ask them to "dumb it down" for me and just this once step down from that high horse.

They create barriers to boost the ego, but I highly admire people, who can discuss their area of expertise, whatever it may be, so that both professionals and laymen follow their train of thought.

Those who feel the need to showcase their intelligence with a convoluted vocabulary have proven to be copycats with no original thought of their own. They quote all the great philosophers then claim their philosophical. At least this has been my experience.

Good Will Hunting comes to mind, both when the Harvard guy got pawned and when the shrink schooled the boy in matters of the heart.

I've never seen it.

If you can't express your thoughts in single or two-syllabal words and in less than 3 or 4 sentences then you should be discussing rocket science or you need to give up. Just my two cents and expressing my approach to drafting memoranda and contracts.

Have you read The Laws of Simplicity by John Maeda? You might enjoy it.

No. I've just had too many investment bankers and tech wizards as clients who didn't want to wade through lawyers pontificating about their own intelligence

Great thread....check out the Ayn Rand movie or read her works for a different take on the whole 'capitalism sucks' spiel.

If you don't support Ayn Rand at 19 and reject her by the time you're 30, there's something wrong

show previous quotes

Great thread....check out the Ayn Rand movie or read her works for a different take on the whole 'capitalism sucks' spiel.

If you don't support Ayn Rand at 19 and reject her by the time you're 30, there's something wrong

I might have a tiny crush on your brain.

show previous quotes

I don't think it has been mentioned yet, but one thing that really annoys me is when people try to demonstrate superiority through the vocabulary they choose.

A person with some kind of literary or economics degree suddenly sounds so fancy that I'd have to get the same degree to grasp what the point is that they are trying to make. So I have to ask them to "dumb it down" for me and just this once step down from that high horse.

They create barriers to boost the ego, but I highly admire people, who can discuss their area of expertise, whatever it may be, so that both professionals and laymen follow their train of thought.

Those who feel the need to showcase their intelligence with a convoluted vocabulary have proven to be copycats with no original thought of their own. They quote all the great philosophers then claim their philosophical. At least this has been my experience.

Good Will Hunting comes to mind, both when the Harvard guy got pawned and when the shrink schooled the boy in matters of the heart.

I've never seen it.

If you can't express your thoughts in single or two-syllabal words and in less than 3 or 4 sentences then you should be discussing rocket science or you need to give up. Just my two cents and expressing my approach to drafting memoranda and contracts.

Have you read The Laws of Simplicity by John Maeda? You might enjoy it.

No. I've just had too many investment bankers and tech wizards as clients who didn't want to wade through lawyers pontificating about their own intelligence

:laugh: Bureaucrat speak in general gives me crawling skin. No offence.

None taken. I've never been a bureaucrat. I take issue with anyone from any profession who can't recognize that their lingo isn't understood by everyone. My most favorite game is to get generals and investment bankers in the same room and play go between. Well, that and clients and their clients from different cultures. At the end of the day, the goal is communication, and if you can't communicate with your intended audience then you're operating above your pay grade no matter how intelligent you think you are.