Intellectual Mediocrity

Over the years, I have spent time in the company of several great thinking minds, who helped me question things in a rational and humane way. During my studies and travels I have attended several seminars and conferences where some great minds have stimulated my grey cells like no substance could ever do.

But leaving some greats aside, I have started to see a pattern within the wider community of intellectuals. The pattern of being self absorbed, false open-mindedness of the other intellectual’s point of view, a strong desire to win support and get the listeners and other intellectuals to confirm with his / her line of thought and last of all, heightened tension enveloped within a senseless superiority complex. Which has seen me, as a attendee, who truly wished to be enlightened, leave the seminars feeling empty and cheated and find the whole purpose of intellectual discourse completely pointless.

In my opinion, a true intellectual is one who as according to the Oxford English dictionary “understands” (http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/intellectual) a thought, an event or an idea and is able rationalize that by accepting opinions from other intellectuals, scholars and thinkers who put forward their opinions and suggestions and is able to ‘truly take on board’, not pretend to, these ‘other’ opinions and explanations and then is able to reason it and able to present the most intellectually stimulating, rationale argument.

Unfortunately, what I see in the current situation is that the intellectuals have stopped “listening” or are “pretending to listen”, are more concerned about how many articles and books they got published and how many international seminars they attended. It is a humble request to our intellectual community, in this age of cut throat commercial competition and confused social and political times, we the people, are in great need of sensible well reasoned intellectual advice. Don’t go for the momentary applause and try and win some nods in your seminars or rave reviews for your articles from fellow pseudo intellectuals. Try and do the job of an intellectual, which is to provide the society with a well rounded, balanced, mature argument and food for thought.

I am waiting to be intellectually stimulated. And I am sure millions of others are, all day, round the clock, either knowingly or unknowingly.