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"Intellectual" is really a buzz word for pretentiousness in this day and age, for the most part. Today, even the word "educated" can be thrown in the mix too. I have a degree and am "educated" myself, but have found what I'm saying to be true. My degree afforded me the ability to provide for my family. But it didn't make me a better human, a better friend, a more superior dad/husband/son/brother, or a better contributor to society. That came from my upbringing, my personal faith, and personal choices I made outside of any classroom setting. To me, those are the attributes that make me an asset to society, not the degree I have, that I can quote Shakespeare, how many book I read, or perform Brahms. Those are great and have their places, but are not the profound contributors that make society flow harmoniously. With most of today's colleges being less tolerant than ever to free speech and diversity of thought, being "educated" and "intellectual" gives many a sense of piety, self-righteousness, and the inability to live in a real-world setting of views not their own. One can live fully, be intelligent, be wise, work happily, be successful, and be productive without having stepped foot into a college. I've actually found them in my 54 years of life to be the most happy, respectful, centered people I know. Colleges have become less about straight up academics and more about social and political dogma and indoctrination that only makes its followers angry, arrogant, and hostile to those not like them. So I'm not nearly as impressed with the educated and intellectual as most of C-Ders are. It's that very narcissistic pretentiousness that's dividing our nation today more than ever before. Generally speaking, I would much rather live in a community of factory workers, farmers, and trades people who focuses on things that unite them and enjoys life's simpler things, than a community of the so-called educated who are focused on how much smarter and enlightened they are than others not like them and are constantly bitter and protesting many things from an emotional standpoint. I guess my point is, education and intellect doesn't set your value. How you treat others does.
You can look at a list of cities v. educational attainment along with population and median income to get a good idea. I'd classify what you might find as either college towns; the smaller cities on the periphery of your star metropolitan areas; or cities with a historically high concentration of benefactors of education and the arts. This might include more relaxed locales like Pittsburgh, Providence, Madison, NOLA, Richmond, Rochester (NY), Philadelphia, Salt Lake, Columbus, Raleigh/Durham, Chicago, etc. all come to mind.
"Intellectual" is really a buzz word for pretentiousness in this day and age, for the most part. Today, even the word "educated" can be thrown in the mix too. I have a degree and am "educated" myself, but have found what I'm saying to be true. My degree afforded me the ability to provide for my family. But it didn't make me a better human, a better friend, a more superior dad/husband/son/brother, or a better contributor to society. That came from my upbringing, my personal faith, and personal choices I made outside of any classroom setting. To me, those are the attributes that make me an asset to society, not the degree I have, that I can quote Shakespeare, how many book I read, or perform Brahms. Those are great and have their places, but are not the profound contributors that make society flow harmoniously. With most of today's colleges being less tolerant than ever to free speech and diversity of thought, being "educated" and "intellectual" gives many a sense of piety, self-righteousness, and the inability to live in a real-world setting of views not their own. One can live fully, be intelligent, be wise, work happily, be successful, and be productive without having stepped foot into a college. I've actually found them in my 54 years of life to be the most happy, respectful, centered people I know. Colleges have become less about straight up academics and more about social and political dogma and indoctrination that only makes its followers angry, arrogant, and hostile to those not like them. So I'm not nearly as impressed with the educated and intellectual as most of C-Ders are. It's that very narcissistic pretentiousness that's dividing our nation today more than ever before. Generally speaking, I would much rather live in a community of factory workers, farmers, and trades people who focuses on things that unite them and enjoys life's simpler things, than a community of the so-called educated who are focused on how much smarter and enlightened they are than others not like them and are constantly bitter and protesting many things from an emotional standpoint. I guess my point is, education and intellect doesn't set your value. How you treat others does.
I can understand where you're coming from to an extent, but I actually think that anti-intellectualism is by far a bigger threat to society today.
To me there is a difference between being educated and being an intellectual. Intellectuals have a certain gravity that most educated people do not, in many ways education is just a practical way of navigating the economy whereas intellectualism is highly theoretical and thought provoking, but not necessarily practical.
Point being, don't totally conflate being educated with being an intellectual.
To me there is a difference between being educated and being an intellectual. Intellectuals have a certain gravity that most educated people do not, in many ways education is just a practical way of navigating the economy whereas intellectualism is highly theoretical and thought provoking, but not necessarily practical.
Point being, don't totally conflate being educated with being an intellectual.
Generally, the only place you find intellectuals who aren't "tainted" by commerce is in academia. If you want to share a table at the local coffee boutique with a PhD in Philosophy, it needs to be in a college town. The college town can't be surrounded by a high tech, biotech, or finance center full of that "taint".
In New England, Burlington VT springs to mind. Northampton MA. Hanover NH.
I don't think the sketchy mid-sized cities with the university qualify because the unwashed masses vastly outnumber the intellectuals other than in a few neighborhoods. I'm eliminating places like New Haven and Providence.
A few years ago, I was at a dive Thai place in downtown New Bedford with my sister who was visiting from Vancouver. New Bedford is a failed city with maybe 17% of the city with college degrees. We were discussing my mother with dementia. I used Brownian Motion as a metaphor for my mother's behavior. A local university Physics prof at the next table interrupted us remarking that he hadn't ever heard that term used in conversation in New Bedford. After introductions, I said "Oh, you work with Xxxxx." My sister remarked that Xxxxx did a postdoc at UBC under her husband. There are intellectuals anywhere with a university but they're really diluted in places that aren't 100% college town. Generally, the common ground with the people at the next table is going to be the weather, the Red Sox, and the Patriots.
"Intellectual" is really a buzz word for pretentiousness in this day and age, for the most part. Today, even the word "educated" can be thrown in the mix too. I have a degree and am "educated" myself, but have found what I'm saying to be true. My degree afforded me the ability to provide for my family. But it didn't make me a better human, a better friend, a more superior dad/husband/son/brother, or a better contributor to society. That came from my upbringing, my personal faith, and personal choices I made outside of any classroom setting. To me, those are the attributes that make me an asset to society, not the degree I have, that I can quote Shakespeare, how many book I read, or perform Brahms. Those are great and have their places, but are not the profound contributors that make society flow harmoniously. With most of today's colleges being less tolerant than ever to free speech and diversity of thought, being "educated" and "intellectual" gives many a sense of piety, self-righteousness, and the inability to live in a real-world setting of views not their own. One can live fully, be intelligent, be wise, work happily, be successful, and be productive without having stepped foot into a college. I've actually found them in my 54 years of life to be the most happy, respectful, centered people I know. Colleges have become less about straight up academics and more about social and political dogma and indoctrination that only makes its followers angry, arrogant, and hostile to those not like them. So I'm not nearly as impressed with the educated and intellectual as most of C-Ders are. It's that very narcissistic pretentiousness that's dividing our nation today more than ever before. Generally speaking, I would much rather live in a community of factory workers, farmers, and trades people who focuses on things that unite them and enjoys life's simpler things, than a community of the so-called educated who are focused on how much smarter and enlightened they are than others not like them and are constantly bitter and protesting many things from an emotional standpoint. I guess my point is, education and intellect doesn't set your value. How you treat others does.
Yes, very true. But for the love of God, please use separate paragraphs. That was both a delight and nightmare to read.
I don't know where the tipping point is for when a locality can be considered intellectual, but there are dozens of university towns and state capitals where some very intellectual work is being done in a routine manner with little fanfare. Sometimes there will be a cluster or a pair of these places located at a fairly close proximity (Topeka-Lawrence-Kansas City, Ames-Des Moines, Co!umbia-Jefferson City, OKC- Norman, Santa Fe-Albuquerque-Los Alamos).
Not many places in the US come to mind for me, at least with how I'm interpreting the question. Berlin for sure. Paris at one time. Maybe Prague. For North America, I liked the suggestion of Montreal.
The reality is that the US is too capitalistic & consumer-driven to really fit this profile. Most blue-collar towns seem to score on the lower-end of intellectual spectrum. In my head, you're looking for a place where someone with a philosophy degree works construction during the day, but moonlights as a writer or artist at night. Seems like a paradox here. Maybe I'm wrong. Gun to my head I'd probably say Portland, but that feels like a stretch to me.
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