Distinctions Between Intellectuals And Pseudo-Intellectuals
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Distinctions Between Intellectuals And Pseudo-Intellectuals
Distinctions Between Intellectuals And Pseudo-Intellectuals
By Sydney Harris, Detroit Free Press, (11/20/81)
*The intellectual is looking for the right questions to ask; the pseudo is giving what he claims to be the right answers.
*The intellectual is evidently motivated by a disinterested love of truth; the pseudo is interested in being right, or being thought to be right, whether he is or not.
*The intellectual is willing to admit that what he does not know is far greater than what he knows; the pseudo claims to know as much as can be known about the subject under consideration.
*The intellectual states as good a case for his adversary as can be made out; the pseudo sets up a straw man and beats it to death for the sake of seeming superior.
*The intellectual is deeply and constantly aware of the limitations of human reason; the pseudo makes a deity of reason and tries to force it into realms it cannot penetrate.
*The intellectual seeks light from whatever source, realizing that ideas are no respecters of persons and turn up in the most unexpected places from the most improbable people; the pseudo accepts ideas, when he does, only from experts and specialists and certified authorities.
*The intellectual advances an hypothesis that he hopes may be true; the pseudo propounds a dogma that he insists is true.
*The intellectual recognizes that opposites are not always contradictory, and may indeed reinforce each other; the pseudo paints a picture in black and white, right or wrong, leaving no room for a contrary viewpoint.
*The intellectual knows there are no final answers to human questions; the pseudo makes each tentative and provisional answer sound like a finality.
*The intellectual is courageous in opposing majority opinion, even when it jeopardizes his position; the pseudo slavishly follows "the most reliable authorities" in his field sneering at heresies.
*The intellectual never talks down to his audience, but tries to be as clear as possible; the pseudo talks above his audience to mystify and impress them."
By Sydney Harris, Detroit Free Press, (11/20/81)
*The intellectual is looking for the right questions to ask; the pseudo is giving what he claims to be the right answers.
*The intellectual is evidently motivated by a disinterested love of truth; the pseudo is interested in being right, or being thought to be right, whether he is or not.
*The intellectual is willing to admit that what he does not know is far greater than what he knows; the pseudo claims to know as much as can be known about the subject under consideration.
*The intellectual states as good a case for his adversary as can be made out; the pseudo sets up a straw man and beats it to death for the sake of seeming superior.
*The intellectual is deeply and constantly aware of the limitations of human reason; the pseudo makes a deity of reason and tries to force it into realms it cannot penetrate.
*The intellectual seeks light from whatever source, realizing that ideas are no respecters of persons and turn up in the most unexpected places from the most improbable people; the pseudo accepts ideas, when he does, only from experts and specialists and certified authorities.
*The intellectual advances an hypothesis that he hopes may be true; the pseudo propounds a dogma that he insists is true.
*The intellectual recognizes that opposites are not always contradictory, and may indeed reinforce each other; the pseudo paints a picture in black and white, right or wrong, leaving no room for a contrary viewpoint.
*The intellectual knows there are no final answers to human questions; the pseudo makes each tentative and provisional answer sound like a finality.
*The intellectual is courageous in opposing majority opinion, even when it jeopardizes his position; the pseudo slavishly follows "the most reliable authorities" in his field sneering at heresies.
*The intellectual never talks down to his audience, but tries to be as clear as possible; the pseudo talks above his audience to mystify and impress them."
- junglelord
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Re: Distinctions Between Intellectuals And Pseudo-Intellectuals
never assume you must be right...intellectual
for sure someone is wrong but its not you....pseduo
for sure someone is wrong but its not you....pseduo
If you only knew the magnificence of the 3, 6 and 9, then you would have a key to the universe.
— Nikola Tesla
Casting Out the Nines from PHI into Indigs reveals the Cosmic Harmonic Code.
— Junglelord.
Knowledge is Structured in Consciouness. Structure and Function Cannot Be Seperated.
— Junglelord
— Nikola Tesla
Casting Out the Nines from PHI into Indigs reveals the Cosmic Harmonic Code.
— Junglelord.
Knowledge is Structured in Consciouness. Structure and Function Cannot Be Seperated.
— Junglelord
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Re: Distinctions Between Intellectuals And Pseudo-Intellectuals
Nice post and excellent sentiments.
If I have the least bit of knowledge
I will follow the great Way alone
and fear nothing but being sidetracked.
The great Way is simple
but people delight in complexity.
Tao Te Ching, 53.
I will follow the great Way alone
and fear nothing but being sidetracked.
The great Way is simple
but people delight in complexity.
Tao Te Ching, 53.
- webolife
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Re: Distinctions Between Intellectuals And Pseudo-Intellectuals
"People who are riddled with doubts tend to be dogmatists who are never wrong." John Powell
Truth extends beyond the border of self-limiting science. Free discourse among opposing viewpoints draws the open-minded away from the darkness of inevitable bias and nearer to the light of universal reality.
- junglelord
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Re: Distinctions Between Intellectuals And Pseudo-Intellectuals
I have been wrong so many times. The black holes I could see...
I have a best friend, a professional magician, and escape artist, he taught me some illusions and many things about magic. (I taught him to love Bruce Lee, and black holes, now thats smoke and mirrors, pure illusion, infact brainwashing). The first time I got out of a straitjacket took me 20 minutes. My best friend could do it in under a minute. He would often have himself handcuffed and chained and thrown into a pool of water. You see, we all walk around thinking we're Houdini, in reality, we are drowning in our classical mess. I am the first one to tell you I am no Houdini. I still tend to have classical mess.
We are all looking for that Bruce Lee of physics, or hoping we will be the one. Until that time I conclude we are all in the classical mess. Oh to even be a grasshopper.
I have a best friend, a professional magician, and escape artist, he taught me some illusions and many things about magic. (I taught him to love Bruce Lee, and black holes, now thats smoke and mirrors, pure illusion, infact brainwashing). The first time I got out of a straitjacket took me 20 minutes. My best friend could do it in under a minute. He would often have himself handcuffed and chained and thrown into a pool of water. You see, we all walk around thinking we're Houdini, in reality, we are drowning in our classical mess. I am the first one to tell you I am no Houdini. I still tend to have classical mess.
We are all looking for that Bruce Lee of physics, or hoping we will be the one. Until that time I conclude we are all in the classical mess. Oh to even be a grasshopper.
Last edited by junglelord on Thu May 08, 2008 2:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.
If you only knew the magnificence of the 3, 6 and 9, then you would have a key to the universe.
— Nikola Tesla
Casting Out the Nines from PHI into Indigs reveals the Cosmic Harmonic Code.
— Junglelord.
Knowledge is Structured in Consciouness. Structure and Function Cannot Be Seperated.
— Junglelord
— Nikola Tesla
Casting Out the Nines from PHI into Indigs reveals the Cosmic Harmonic Code.
— Junglelord.
Knowledge is Structured in Consciouness. Structure and Function Cannot Be Seperated.
— Junglelord
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- Posts: 2477
- Joined: Sun Apr 13, 2008 5:47 am
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Re: Distinctions Between Intellectuals And Pseudo-Intellectuals
Somehow I just that there would be straitjackets in your life. Next you'll be telling us that you used to sleep in a room with rubber wallpaper.junglelord wrote:I have been wrong so many times. The black holes I could see...
I have a best friend, a professional magician, and escape artist, he taught me some illusions and many things about magic. (I taught him to love black holes, now thats smoke and mirrors, pure illusion, infact brainwashing). The first time I got out of a straitjacket took me 20 minutes. My best friend could do it in under a minute. He would often have himself handcuffed and chained and thrown into a pool of water. You see, we all walk around thinking we're Houdini, in reality, we are drowning in our classical mess. I am the first one to tell you I am no Houdini. I still tend to have classical mess.
If I have the least bit of knowledge
I will follow the great Way alone
and fear nothing but being sidetracked.
The great Way is simple
but people delight in complexity.
Tao Te Ching, 53.
I will follow the great Way alone
and fear nothing but being sidetracked.
The great Way is simple
but people delight in complexity.
Tao Te Ching, 53.
- junglelord
- Posts: 3693
- Joined: Mon Mar 17, 2008 5:39 am
- Location: Canada
Re: Distinctions Between Intellectuals And Pseudo-Intellectuals
Do they sell that stuff?
I was more looking for that new liquid crystal EM wall paper...like that operating system from Bill Gates.
I was more looking for that new liquid crystal EM wall paper...like that operating system from Bill Gates.
If you only knew the magnificence of the 3, 6 and 9, then you would have a key to the universe.
— Nikola Tesla
Casting Out the Nines from PHI into Indigs reveals the Cosmic Harmonic Code.
— Junglelord.
Knowledge is Structured in Consciouness. Structure and Function Cannot Be Seperated.
— Junglelord
— Nikola Tesla
Casting Out the Nines from PHI into Indigs reveals the Cosmic Harmonic Code.
— Junglelord.
Knowledge is Structured in Consciouness. Structure and Function Cannot Be Seperated.
— Junglelord
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- Joined: Thu Mar 13, 2008 11:14 pm
Re: Distinctions Between Intellectuals And Pseudo-Intellectuals
Ayn RandJust as, in epistemology, the cult of uncertainty is a revolt against reason — so, in ethics, the cult of moral grayness is a revolt against moral values. Both are a revolt against the absolutism of reality.
"Logic is the art of non-contradictory identification"......" I am therefore Ill think"
Ayn Rand
"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."
Aristotle
Ayn Rand
"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."
Aristotle
- junglelord
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- Joined: Mon Mar 17, 2008 5:39 am
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Re: Distinctions Between Intellectuals And Pseudo-Intellectuals
The current paradigm of more and more specialization, learning more and more about less and less, leads to a total knowledge of everything about nothing!
Carver Mead/Feynaman/Collective Electrodynamics
http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0 ... T0#PPA6,M1
Carver Mead/Feynaman/Collective Electrodynamics
http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0 ... T0#PPA6,M1
If you only knew the magnificence of the 3, 6 and 9, then you would have a key to the universe.
— Nikola Tesla
Casting Out the Nines from PHI into Indigs reveals the Cosmic Harmonic Code.
— Junglelord.
Knowledge is Structured in Consciouness. Structure and Function Cannot Be Seperated.
— Junglelord
— Nikola Tesla
Casting Out the Nines from PHI into Indigs reveals the Cosmic Harmonic Code.
— Junglelord.
Knowledge is Structured in Consciouness. Structure and Function Cannot Be Seperated.
— Junglelord
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- Posts: 2477
- Joined: Sun Apr 13, 2008 5:47 am
- Location: NW UK
Re: Distinctions Between Intellectuals And Pseudo-Intellectuals
What 'cult of uncertainty'?Plasmatic wrote:Ayn RandJust as, in epistemology, the cult of uncertainty is a revolt against reason — so, in ethics, the cult of moral grayness is a revolt against moral values. Both are a revolt against the absolutism of reality.
What 'cult of moral greyness'?
What 'moral values'? I'm assuming she means objective moral values.
What absolutism of reality?
Personally I'm all for revolting against any form of absolutism. There again, I'm a revolting kind of guy.
If I have the least bit of knowledge
I will follow the great Way alone
and fear nothing but being sidetracked.
The great Way is simple
but people delight in complexity.
Tao Te Ching, 53.
I will follow the great Way alone
and fear nothing but being sidetracked.
The great Way is simple
but people delight in complexity.
Tao Te Ching, 53.
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- Posts: 800
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Re: Distinctions Between Intellectuals And Pseudo-Intellectuals
And I support your right to express that view 100% Id never attempt to do anything else. But we would go off topic for me to demonstrate what you probably already know. I respect the fact that You at least know where your views originated in history . And needless to say the battle between the opposing historical perspective still wages , at least in its fundamental differences So like others Ill leave my quote to speak for itself .Personally I'm all for revolting against any form of absolutism. There again, I'm a revolting kind of guy.
"Logic is the art of non-contradictory identification"......" I am therefore Ill think"
Ayn Rand
"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."
Aristotle
Ayn Rand
"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."
Aristotle
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Re: Distinctions Between Intellectuals And Pseudo-Intellectuals
I think it was Karl Popper who said:
"There are experts, but no authorities."
"There are experts, but no authorities."
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