DC becoming intellectual hub of US? (centers, metro area, area)
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I think DC is a wonkish town. Policy wonks are usually, but not always, intelligent people. Contrary to the belief of many here, the human intellect can be applied to a range of endeavors beyond maintaining the solvency of social security. One thing I've never liked about Beltway insiders is this notion that the "big thinking" goes on here and that DC is the best place to make large-scale change happen. I don't think there's a regional monopoly, or oligopoly, on good ideas and clear and creative thinking.
the think tanks have some very smart people and do some good research, but they MOSTLY talk to the govt, to select media, and to each other. They do not have the sheer weight of impact on the life of the community that a harvard, stanford, or even a uchicago does. nor do they have the breadth of fields - Brookings is important on policy, international relations, economics. But no english lit, no history of science, etc, etc, And most of the other think tanks are either narrower than brookings, less intellectually powerful, or both.
Nah, while a great university in theory is not essential to an intellectual hub (nyc in the middle of the last century HAD Columbia, but many or most of the New York intellectuals were not affiliated with it) I think DC wont be an intellectual hub till it does have a great university - either Georgetown or GW must step up the plate beyond what they have already, or somehow Hopkins must become and be seen as part of the life of DC.
different sorta people live in different places for a reason.
I think you should really define what "Smart" is first, because there are a lot of different sort of "smart".
Someone who could do coding blindfolded could fail horribly when it comes to PR, and vice versa.
Wow. Digging up an old school thread from the vaults. Fwiw, I never used the word "smart". I used the word "intellectual", which is quite different, and then defined it as a source of new ideas and philosophies.
Not sure..but this is an interesting thread, so I'm bumping it back up.
I have noticed that most DC forumers seem quite intelligent, informative, interesting, etc.
Viewing quite a few other forums, you can see people get locked into all kinds of somewhat ridiculousness arguments. Not so much here, not to the same degree anyways.
I prefer things slightly to the left, but not always. I think SF/PDX/SEA have a real nice intellectualism going on. But, maybe too much in one direction, a very left direction. I like it, but balance is key as well. Fiscal conservatism and some other things need to be considered, etc.
Washington DC seems to have to take everything into consideration. I'd think anyways. More realists and idealists and the complete mix.
i think the dc area has become an intellectual capitol due to the fact that local politics (in dc) don't transfer over to or interfere with the overall metro area. think of how local politics take over cities like sf/pdx/sea/hou/dall/atl/nyc/la that doesn't really happen here in the dc area.
even though dc is a heavily liberal leaning city, conservatives have a strong voice in area politics (northern virginia for example and maryland voted strongly for a republican governor) so i think there's balance.
that balance and opportunity leads people to dc. you don't have to worry about feeling like an oddity or an outsider if your views don't mesh with the prevailing majority unlike in other cities (try being a republican in baltimore or a democrat in salt lake city). as you said washington has to take everything into consideration unlike other cities. i love it!
What about Silicon Valley? I thought that area drew some very #@$%@#$ smart people. I know a handful of insanely smart classmates who moved there.
For example, Facebook is there. Adobe is there. Ebay is there. Google is there.
Don't tell me those companies did not have influence on the world.
but i think that's a very myopic view of intelligence. granted computers and engineering requires some degree of intelligence but if your town is only known for producing or being a bastion for that type of industry than i think you can safely argue that it can't be known as an overall intellectual capitol. dc has politics (lobbyist,etc), dc has non profits, dc has IT, dc has government (contractors), dc has law; i mean the list goes on.
the think tanks have some very smart people and do some good research, but they MOSTLY talk to the govt, to select media, and to each other. They do not have the sheer weight of impact on the life of the community that a harvard, stanford, or even a uchicago does. nor do they have the breadth of fields - Brookings is important on policy, international relations, economics. But no english lit, no history of science, etc, etc, And most of the other think tanks are either narrower than brookings, less intellectually powerful, or both.
Nah, while a great university in theory is not essential to an intellectual hub (nyc in the middle of the last century HAD Columbia, but many or most of the New York intellectuals were not affiliated with it) I think DC wont be an intellectual hub till it does have a great university - either Georgetown or GW must step up the plate beyond what they have already, or somehow Hopkins must become and be seen as part of the life of DC.
lol @ thinking georgetown is not an elite school smh
DC's always been a two faced city, IMO. Georgetown isn't an elite school. It's ranked 21st in just US. That's not counting the art schools and any other top ranked schools.
lol @ thinking georgetown is not an elite school smh
I didnt say its not an elite school. I said that for DC to be an intellectual hub comparable to some other historical intellectual hubs, Gtown has to step up the plate in terms of driving the intellectual life of the city MORE than it has so far.
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