Distinctions Between Intellectuals And Pseudo-Intellectuals

What is a human being? What is life? Can science give us reliable answers to such questions? The electricity of life. The meaning of human consciousness. Are we alone? Are the traditional contests between science and religion still relevant? Does the word "spirit" still hold meaning today?

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upriver
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Distinctions Between Intellectuals And Pseudo-Intellectuals

Unread post by upriver » Fri May 02, 2008 8:53 pm

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."

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junglelord
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Re: Distinctions Between Intellectuals And Pseudo-Intellectuals

Unread post by junglelord » Fri May 02, 2008 9:34 pm

never assume you must be right...intellectual
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

Grey Cloud
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Re: Distinctions Between Intellectuals And Pseudo-Intellectuals

Unread post by Grey Cloud » Sat May 03, 2008 5:15 am

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.

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webolife
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Re: Distinctions Between Intellectuals And Pseudo-Intellectuals

Unread post by webolife » Thu May 08, 2008 1:38 pm

"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.

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junglelord
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Re: Distinctions Between Intellectuals And Pseudo-Intellectuals

Unread post by junglelord » Thu May 08, 2008 2:50 pm

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.
:D
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

Grey Cloud
Posts: 2477
Joined: Sun Apr 13, 2008 5:47 am
Location: NW UK

Re: Distinctions Between Intellectuals And Pseudo-Intellectuals

Unread post by Grey Cloud » Thu May 08, 2008 2:59 pm

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.
;)
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. :lol: :lol: :lol:
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.

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junglelord
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Location: Canada

Re: Distinctions Between Intellectuals And Pseudo-Intellectuals

Unread post by junglelord » Thu May 08, 2008 3:00 pm

Do they sell that stuff?
I was more looking for that new liquid crystal EM wall paper...like that operating system from Bill Gates.
:D
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

Plasmatic
Posts: 800
Joined: Thu Mar 13, 2008 11:14 pm

Re: Distinctions Between Intellectuals And Pseudo-Intellectuals

Unread post by Plasmatic » Thu May 08, 2008 7:40 pm

Just 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.
Ayn Rand
"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

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junglelord
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Re: Distinctions Between Intellectuals And Pseudo-Intellectuals

Unread post by junglelord » Thu May 08, 2008 9:11 pm

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
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

Grey Cloud
Posts: 2477
Joined: Sun Apr 13, 2008 5:47 am
Location: NW UK

Re: Distinctions Between Intellectuals And Pseudo-Intellectuals

Unread post by Grey Cloud » Fri May 09, 2008 4:50 am

Plasmatic wrote:
Just 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.
Ayn Rand
What 'cult of uncertainty'?
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.

Plasmatic
Posts: 800
Joined: Thu Mar 13, 2008 11:14 pm

Re: Distinctions Between Intellectuals And Pseudo-Intellectuals

Unread post by Plasmatic » Fri May 09, 2008 10:19 am

Personally I'm all for revolting against any form of absolutism. There again, I'm a revolting kind of guy.
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 .
"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

bdw000
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Joined: Tue Mar 18, 2008 5:06 pm

Re: Distinctions Between Intellectuals And Pseudo-Intellectuals

Unread post by bdw000 » Thu Nov 27, 2008 8:32 pm

I think it was Karl Popper who said:

"There are experts, but no authorities."

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