Are we at CFC Intellectuals?

[Gogf]

I actually hear a plethora of people define the word intellectual, as crazy as it may sound- both teachers, students, and sometimes parents.

And they define it as "anyone who places a high value on intellect"?

 

[Perfection]

No harm no foul.

As for my definition of intellectual, well, i guess it would be:

"Anyone whose mental capacities in regards of intellect, there is, the habilities to understand, extrapolate and organize knowledge, as well as explain, teach or communicate it (or any combination of the six) are excercized with a performance considerably superior to average people..".

Regards .

And you don't think you qualify under that scheme?!

You either grossly underestimate yourself or overestimate other people!

 

[Atlas14]

You just made a huge generalization. You also forgot about the marketing, management, corporate, and legal staff. That said, I will assume that you meant the average fry cook or counter-worker. I would think that the average fry cook or counter-worker places a high value on intellect.

Your marketing, management, and corporate and legal staff do not compose your "average McDonalds employee" . Your average fry cook or counter-worker probably does place a high value on intellect, which is why I have reconsidered the validity of the definition.

 

[Atlas14]

And they define it as "anyone who places a high value on intellect"?

Everything but that part, which should have been excluded from the definition altogether.

 

[Gogf]

Everything but that part, which should have been excluded from the definition altogether.

So you agree that the infamous "#7" is not a very good definition?

 

[GenMarshall]

Your marketing, management, and corporate and legal staff do not compose your "average McDonalds employee" . Your average fry cook or counter-worker probably does place a high value on intellect, which is why I have reconsidered the validity of the definition.

You may be surprised that some of them do value intellect. Especially if those McDonald's food workers are only working there part time to earn money and going to school. I used to work in a resteraunt part time and I valued intellect. Somehow you can find plenty of people who worked or used to work in McDonald's or other fast food joints do value intellect.

 

[Fifty]

Ok, so I don't agree with the value-placement part of the definition.

I can still find a counter-example:

A complete ****** (say, our McDonald's life-employee), who really *wishes* he was smart but who can read only at, say, a 1st grade level. Being a naive moron, though, he buys a copy of Russell's Principia and tries occasionally to read it, although being a moron he can't get past the 1st sentence. So this guy is an INTELLECTUAL!?

The counterexample is meant to highlight the need for some sort of common evaluative procedure for determining whether someone really does think about intellectual things at a non-superficial level (i.e. he doesn't just read a few books and make philosophically-superficial posts on a forum). My contention is that pursuit of an advanced degree is generally a good proxy for the ability to think non-superficially about intellectual matters, which I think (due to the counterexample above) is a necessary condition for being meaningfully labelled an intellectual.

I'm sorry, but every moron kid who takes a couple AP classes, reads a book or two, and posts in these silly debates on an internet forum is NOT an intellectual in any meaningful sense of the word.

 

[Atlas14]

I can still find a counter-example:

A complete ****** (say, our McDonald's life-employee), who really *wishes* he was smart but who can read only at, say, a 1st grade level. Being a naive moron, though, he buys a copy of Russell's Principia and tries occasionally to read it, although being a moron he can't get past the 1st sentence. So this guy is an INTELLECTUAL!?

The counterexample is meant to highlight the need for some sort of common evaluative procedure for determining whether someone really does think about intellectual things at a non-superficial level (i.e. he doesn't just read a few books and make philosophically-superficial posts on a forum). My contention is that pursuit of an advanced degree is generally a good proxy for the ability to think non-superficially about intellectual matters, which I think (due to the counterexample above) is a necessary condition for being meaningfully labelled an intellectual.

I'm sorry, but every moron kid who takes a couple AP classes, reads a book or two, and posts in these silly debates on an internet forum is NOT an intellectual in any meaningful sense of the word.

Ok, that is something I can agree with. Previously I was unsure what exactly the pursuit of an advanced degree had to do with intellect other than showing how motivated or smart one is, but you're right, it can be used as a good measure of something that would otherwise be overwhelmingly indeterminate.

 

[Mathilda]

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[Mathilda]

Received in a pm from Fred, one more addition to the thread

I can still find a counter-example:

A complete ****** (say, our McDonald's life-employee), who really *wishes* he was smart but who can read only at, say, a 1st grade level. Being a naive moron, though, he buys a copy of Russell's Principia and tries occasionally to read it, although being a moron he can't get past the 1st sentence. So this guy is an INTELLECTUAL!?

That description reminds me one of my favorite bits of the hilarious movie A fish called Wanda"

*The grunt interpreted by Kevin Kline, after finishing one of his numerous stupid errants, is confronted by Wanda.*

"Oh my gosh! You are SUCH a Neanderthal, Otto!!!"

"Oh yeah" - defiantly replies Otto as he shows a copy of Nietzsche's "Das Sprach Zaratustra", which he continuously carry under his armpit - "But does Neanderthals read philosophy?"

"They do, Otto - they just don't understand it."