They like facts only as long as the facts fit in with a proposition at a higher level of abstraction, a theory or ideology; they have trouble taking aboard experience whose “relevance” is elusive. Intellectuals often reason well, but are poor at examining the premises that underly their reasoning.

Above all, intellectuals do not have to submit to reality testing in the way that most others do. A scientist or engineer may have no end of exciting ideas, but no one will take him or her seriously unless those ideas are demonstrated to work adequately. The intellectual’s concerns involve complex phenomena subject to widely divergent interpretation, where there is no purely pragmatic way of quickly determining what’s correct. (Eventually, in such areas as sociology, politics, or psychology, we do amass enough evidence for or against ideas that we can say there is probable cause to believe them true or false, but that may take generations.)

So the intellectual gets accustomed to being able to say anything without fear of being proven wrong. Sure, there may be strong counter-arguments, but the intellectual’s job is to come up with plausible-sounding counter-counter-arguments. The music never stops. Too many intellectuals unconsciously quit worrying about validity; the only failure they fear is the failure to speak or write persuasively.

Thank goodness we have people who are interested in ideas and expressing them well. In sum, and over the course of a long time, intellectuals’ pursuits do contribute to knowledge and progress. At any given time, though, the ability to score debater’s points has no necessary connection with truth or wisdom. Those brilliant talkers of antiquity, the Sophists, gave sophistry a bad name.

“England is perhaps the only great country whose intellectuals are ashamed of their own nationality. In left-wing circles it is always felt that there is something slightly disgraceful in being an Englishman and that it is a duty to snigger at every English institution, from horse racing to suet puddings. It is a strange fact, but it is unquestionably true that almost any English intellectual would feel more ashamed of standing to attention during ‘God save the King’ than of stealing from a poor box.”

from England Your England (1941), by George Orwell

Again, thank you for your most thought writing.
Sincerely,
James A. Glasscock, a 70-year old Texan

You’re calling George Bush an “intellectual?”

Seriously, I don’t understand the need for extremist positions. Do you have leftist “friends” who have become your enemy now, or what? This is a general question, because I honestly do not know what drives people to polar extremes. Why the incessant labelling?

Leftist, right-winger, liberal, democrat, conservative, etc. These labels are just that. Meaningless, hollow words.

There is little humility at all in politics today. I dread the upcoming election bash festival that will soon appear on television. All it is is name calling today. No issues are discussed in a fair and honest manner whatsoever. It’s as if people want it to be that way. For entertainment purposes. Just like the fucking media used 9/11 as entertainment. Instant replays over-and-over of jumbo jets slamming into buildings *killing* people. Let me remind you, it wasn’t the people labelled “terrorist” that replayed that footage again and again ad nauseum for entire months. That alone speaks volumes of the American psyche, I do believe.