Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Maybe it's top 3 in the country but I think the SF Bay Area is over-hyped when it comes to intellectualism. Bay Area seems to have a pervasive ghetto/ratchiness side to it too (side-shows, hyphy, idolozing acts like E-40 and Mac Dre (still)).
Im actually surprised Rochester MN is not on here. The whole city revolves around Medical Science surrounding Mayo. Yes, its healthcare.. but there have been indirect additions to the city like IBM. Thanks for youre insight on the topic.
IBM has been in Rochester since 1956 - that's 63 years ago. Not recent at all. I guess the point is that there's a lot of places out there like this in smaller areas that are hugely innovative to the rest of the world. RTP in North Carolina is another example of this.
There's a lot of other places in the country that turn out crazy stuff. Lets talk about National Laboratories. Everyone knows Los Alamos. There's 2 national labs in the Chicago suburbs (Argonne and Fermi), another in Ames, Iowa, etc. Los Angeles area doesnt have any of these labs as primary location and neither does anywhere in Texas. These places are crazy for this type of thing too.
National Labs by Area
San Francisco: 3
Chicago: 2
NYC: 2
Albuquerque: 1
Ames, IA: 1
Augusta, GA: 1
Denver: 1
Idaho Falls, ID: 1
Knoxville, TN: 1
Los Alamos, NM: 1
Pittsburgh: 1
Seattle: 1
Virginia Beach: 1
SF area also has a secondary location of Sandia whose primary location is in Albuquerque.
Maybe it's top 3 in the country but I think the SF Bay Area is over-hyped when it comes to intellectualism. Bay Area seems to have a pervasive ghetto/ratchiness side to it too (side-shows, hyphy, idolozing acts like E-40 and Mac Dre (still)).
all of these places are overhyped for intellectualism. Most people in any city arent really "intellectuals" its just most of us have gone to upscale areas or are there for work related reasons and so we get a more polished visiting view that we bring to these threads.
all of these places are overhyped for intellectualism. Most people in any city arent really "intellectuals" its just most of us have gone to upscale areas or are there for work related reasons and so we get a more polished visiting view that we bring to these threads.
Exactly. There's so much faux intellectualism out there it's mind blowing. People love to show others they are smart. On their own time secretly they might not even care though. I cant tell you how many times I've seen people reading obscure philosophers books on the train or at a coffee sho here, but it's a lot of times. I'd be willing to.wager that a fair percentage of these people aren't truly interested in this stuff and are merely doing it for show. I've lived in many places in the US and the only thing I've found is that some areas have more of the faux intellectualism than others. Some areas on average don't BS and own from the beginning that they just might not truly care about a lot of things.
I do find that being in diverse (in thought, race, etc) can spur more curiosity, but people on average are pretty lazy about pursuing their curious thoughts. Some own up to that more than others.
Agree, and I am a holder of a software patent myself. Many people choose to not get a patent on things for a variety of reasons. Sometimes it's more beneficial for society as a whole for something to not have a patent. Read about Honeywell v Sperry Rand. Computing would be much different if the patent for the computer was not invalidated in that case.
There's a lot of places you also wouldn't expect to be patent powerhouses. Rochester, Minnesota is a great example of that. Tons of intellectual capital there, and very educated people but I wouldn't exactly call the place "intellectual" apart from what people are working on for a living and churning out huge innovation in the medical and technology fields. RTP as I'm sure you know is an even larger example of this type of thing.
Yes, Raleigh is definitely on my mind with this subject. It hits many of the markers being thrown around (universities and industries spitting out college grads and patents like they were going out of style), but it feels removed from my idea of intellectualism. The people I work with are smart in their field, but their NPR-listening quota and book-reading is probably not terribly high. To be fair, the conversation at lunch was the latest Doctor Who episode, so maybe it’s a bit nerdier than your average place, I don’t know. But it wasn’t Mencken’s read on Proust or anything.
Also, I do agree about faux intellectualism and reading obscure philosophy books just because. Circling back to my point, I bet a high concentration of those failed philosophers churning out the books being read in coffeehouses actually live in NYC. It’s possible there are more Seattle citizen by percentage that read the New Yorker than actual New Yorkers. But the fact is they are not reading the Seattleite Magazine. New York City is the mother ship for failed philosophies, mediocre writers, and the intellectual class that worships them.
Yes, Raleigh is definitely on my mind with this subject. It hits many of the markers being thrown around (universities and industries spitting out college grads and patents like they were going out of style), but it feels removed from my idea of intellectualism. The people I work with are smart in their field, but their NPR-listening quota and book-reading is probably not terribly high. To be fair, the conversation at lunch was the latest Doctor Who episode, so maybe it’s a bit nerdier than your average place, I don’t know. But it wasn’t Mencken’s read on Proust or anything.
Also, I do agree about faux intellectualism and reading obscure philosophy books just because. Circling back to my point, I bet a high concentration of those failed philosophers churning out the books being read in coffeehouses actually live in NYC. It’s possible there are more Seattle citizen by percentage that read the New Yorker than actual New Yorkers. But the fact is they are not reading the Seattleite Magazine. New York City is the mother ship for failed philosophies, mediocre writers, and the intellectual class that worships them.
This is how a place like Rochester, MN is and in general the Midwest. They aren't grasping for new books all the time trying to force read something but are very intellectual at the things they like to do or do for a living. The difference is that in places like the midwest and maybe with some homegrown NE people, and probably the south too.. they don't put on a facade as much with this stuff. If they aren't interested in something, then they have no problem admitting it. In NYC, I think a lot of the people who are pseudo intellectual are those who probably grew up in a small place and NYC is the first big city they've lived in. They are trying to act what they think a New Yorker should act like - whatever vision is in their head. And I think in the age of the internet, being truly curious and intellectual is much easier as well. Almost everything is within reach because of the internet whether it's an e-book or ordering something online. You don't have to necessarily be in the same city as a world renowned library anymore to learn about the world. And for that reason, I think that stereotypes are pretty much BS. I have lived on both coasts and the midwest and I've met numerous people who are truly more intellectual in the midwest than anywhere else, but at the same time I've met tons of people on the coasts who are as well. I find that in 2020, the lines are very blurred in part because of how easy it is for someone even in the middle of a 300 person town in Idaho that maybe 50 years ago they would have had to be physically present in NYC to access.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MarketStEl
That's the thing - you can find this in parts of many cities whose overall image is not one of being particularly brainy/nerdy/bookish. Chicago may be the best example of such a city: you have two intellectual powerhouse universities in it, the University of Chicago and Northwestern, and both do lots of research. Then on top of that you have one of the country's best public library systems. But we still think of the place in terms resembling those Carl Sandburg used to describe it: "hog butcher to the world," "the city of the broad shoulders." Or we think of it in terms of its rough-and-tumble machine politics.
Yes, very much so. Stereotypes of some cities are very old. Most peoples' idea of Chicago is at least 20-25 years behind what the reality is. The funny part is the same people who claim to be intellectual and possessing all this knowledge might say something like this - which is directly counter to their claim of being intellectual. In the case of Chicago, it has the highest percentage of college graduates right now of any of the top 7 largest US cities, but the way people think about it, they'd probably think it was closer to the bottom. Atlanta is another city like that - over 50% college educated in the city, but I think a lot of people would think it's something like 30%.
Maybe it's top 3 in the country but I think the SF Bay Area is over-hyped when it comes to intellectualism. Bay Area seems to have a pervasive ghetto/ratchiness side to it too (side-shows, hyphy, idolozing acts like E-40 and Mac Dre (still)).
all of these places are overhyped for intellectualism. Most people in any city arent really "intellectuals" its just most of us have gone to upscale areas or are there for work related reasons and so we get a more polished visiting view that we bring to these threads.
I spent my whole career around switched-on people in high tech. Most of them are interested in everything. They don’t go home and watch Survivor or Friends reruns on television.
Boston - Duh
New York - Bill Hicks Lizard People bit
Columbus - Have noticed more than their fair share of residents as contestants on Jeopardy!
I see San Francisco as faux intellectualism. Yeah, there's some smart people with degrees yadda yadda yadda. Tech this tech that yadda yadda yadda. Tech people might be interested in everything, but it's all for show. A mile wide, but an inch deep. They care about video games, and showing off how many places they travel to. Could they tell me about the culture or traditions of the obscure country they just visited? Not likely.
Intellectualism includes, to me, "dumb" things like how to change a tire on a car (but young people are so cool they don't need to drive yadda yadda yadda), install a ceiling fan, sew a button on, train your dogs to be anything more than animated house ornaments, unlock a garbage disposal, and find their way even in their own city without Google f'n Maps.
Oh, the Old Guard San Franciscans is what is making people vote overwhelmingly for the overrated Bay Area? The "Hippies"? Please. They're so "intellectual" they can't get out of their own way. See: homeless crisis brought about by their NIMBYism coupled with their bleeding hearts. Sure, "intellectual".
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
