Our server costs ~$56 per month to run. Please consider donating or becoming a Patron to help keep the site running. Help us gain new members by following us on Twitter and liking our page on Facebook!
Current time: April 28, 2024, 8:53 pm

Thread Rating:
  • 0 Vote(s) - 0 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
It's 2019 can we please stop the stupid?
#47
RE: It's 2019 can we please stop the stupid?
(August 6, 2019 at 3:05 pm)Brian37 Wrote: So just now on Twitter, I ran into a an angry Tweet form an IDIOT getting angry at someone else for calling dolphins mammals. The idiot did a all caps shout Tweet insisting that dolphins were fish because they swim in the water. 

They should not be angry at the person that told them the truth, they should get angry at the person that sold them the lie. 

I swear, America is regressing and that is scary.

There's a classic book called Anti-Intellectualism in American Life, by Richard Hofstadter. 

He starts by defining what he means by calling someone an intellectual, and he identifies two characteristics: 

~ An intellectual takes ideas seriously, as having importance even if they don't lead to money or fame or a better mousetrap. 

~ An intellectual takes ideas playfully, being willing to spend time on ideas he doesn't agree with, and systems that are currently way out of fashion. 

So it isn't the same thing as just being smart, because a smart guy who spent all his time on more practical pursuits wouldn't necessarily be an intellectual. 

And Hofstadter makes a persuasive case that the US has pretty much always been suspicious of intellectuals. We prefer people who use their smarts to make money -- or we just prefer people who make money, with or without smarts. 

I think the only intellectual character in pop culture in recent years has been Hannibal Lector.
Reply



Messages In This Thread
It's 2019 can we please stop the stupid? - by Brian37 - August 6, 2019 at 3:05 pm
RE: It's 2019 can we please stop the stupid? - by Brian37 - August 6, 2019 at 3:16 pm
RE: It's 2019 can we please stop the stupid? - by Brian37 - August 6, 2019 at 10:09 pm
RE: It's 2019 can we please stop the stupid? - by AFTT47 - August 6, 2019 at 11:06 pm
RE: It's 2019 can we please stop the stupid? - by Brian37 - August 6, 2019 at 3:27 pm
RE: It's 2019 can we please stop the stupid? - by chimp3 - August 6, 2019 at 9:06 pm
RE: It's 2019 can we please stop the stupid? - by Brian37 - August 6, 2019 at 9:16 pm
RE: It's 2019 can we please stop the stupid? - by chimp3 - August 6, 2019 at 9:34 pm
RE: It's 2019 can we please stop the stupid? - by Shell B - August 6, 2019 at 4:20 pm
RE: It's 2019 can we please stop the stupid? - by Brian37 - August 6, 2019 at 5:42 pm
RE: It's 2019 can we please stop the stupid? - by Brian37 - August 6, 2019 at 5:48 pm
RE: It's 2019 can we please stop the stupid? - by Brian37 - August 6, 2019 at 6:03 pm
RE: It's 2019 can we please stop the stupid? - by Brian37 - August 6, 2019 at 5:54 pm
RE: It's 2019 can we please stop the stupid? - by Acrobat - August 24, 2019 at 2:45 pm
RE: It's 2019 can we please stop the stupid? - by Brian37 - August 6, 2019 at 9:01 pm
RE: It's 2019 can we please stop the stupid? - by AFTT47 - August 6, 2019 at 8:57 pm
RE: It's 2019 can we please stop the stupid? - by AFTT47 - August 6, 2019 at 9:48 pm
RE: It's 2019 can we please stop the stupid? - by Succubus - August 6, 2019 at 10:18 pm
RE: It's 2019 can we please stop the stupid? - by no one - August 6, 2019 at 10:51 pm
RE: It's 2019 can we please stop the stupid? - by Shell B - August 7, 2019 at 12:37 am
RE: It's 2019 can we please stop the stupid? - by Shell B - August 7, 2019 at 10:20 am
RE: It's 2019 can we please stop the stupid? - by AFTT47 - August 7, 2019 at 8:19 pm
RE: It's 2019 can we please stop the stupid? - by Shell B - August 8, 2019 at 12:28 am
RE: It's 2019 can we please stop the stupid? - by Belacqua - August 7, 2019 at 6:24 am
RE: It's 2019 can we please stop the stupid? - by Shell B - August 7, 2019 at 7:25 pm
RE: It's 2019 can we please stop the stupid? - by Athene - August 8, 2019 at 3:29 am
RE: It's 2019 can we please stop the stupid? - by EgoDeath - August 24, 2019 at 1:51 pm
RE: It's 2019 can we please stop the stupid? - by Brian37 - August 24, 2019 at 2:01 pm
RE: It's 2019 can we please stop the stupid? - by EgoDeath - August 24, 2019 at 2:23 pm
RE: It's 2019 can we please stop the stupid? - by Brian37 - August 24, 2019 at 2:32 pm
RE: It's 2019 can we please stop the stupid? - by EgoDeath - August 24, 2019 at 3:13 pm
RE: It's 2019 can we please stop the stupid? - by EgoDeath - September 3, 2019 at 3:02 am

Possibly Related Threads...
Thread Author Replies Views Last Post
  PLEASE: birds, bees, flowers and trees! Haipule 24 2624 January 6, 2020 at 12:07 pm
Last Post: Rahn127
  The Only Way To Stop A Bad Guy With A Club Minimalist 5 1272 January 21, 2016 at 2:51 am
Last Post: ignoramus
  Qualified people please LogicOrDie 14 3338 July 4, 2014 at 9:00 am
Last Post: Cyberman
  Idaho Looking To Cash In On Stupid Minimalist 13 2966 June 18, 2014 at 11:41 pm
Last Post: Anomalocaris
  Please Help Me Understand Consciousness Mudhammam 17 3034 March 25, 2014 at 2:08 am
Last Post: Mudhammam
  Intelligent People are Stupid Max_Kolbe 24 3924 September 21, 2013 at 11:42 pm
Last Post: Captain Colostomy
  We can dare to dream of the stars again, if only we can achieve this small thing. Annik 49 18194 May 17, 2012 at 5:21 pm
Last Post: Angrboda



Users browsing this thread: 2 Guest(s)