Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site ttidcc.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!bonnie!akgua!mcnc!philabs!ttidca!ttidcc!hollombe From: hollombe@ttidcc.UUCP (The Polymath) Newsgroups: net.singles Subject: Re: XSO IQ Message-ID: <501@ttidcc.UUCP> Date: Mon, 24-Jun-85 15:32:30 EDT Article-I.D.: ttidcc.501 Posted: Mon Jun 24 15:32:30 1985 Date-Received: Sun, 30-Jun-85 01:11:34 EDT References: <1476@utah-gr.UUCP> <1560088@acf4.UUCP> <1100@peora.UUCP> <498@ttidcc.UUCP> <244@tove.UUCP> Reply-To: hollombe@ttidcc.UUCP (The Polymath) Organization: The Cat Factory Lines: 61 Summary: In article <244@tove.UUCP> dsn@tove.UUCP (Dana S. Nau) writes: >Our esteemed (:-)) ex-vice-president's phrase was "impudent corps of effete >snobs". "Intellectual" was not there. The phrase itself is pretty >intellectual-sounding: how many people normally use words like "impudent" >or "effete"? My apologies to Mr. Agnew for the misquote. >I think most of the above phrases connote not someone who is merely >intellectual, but rather someone who is trying to *show off* his/her >knowledge in order to feel superior to others. Sometimes, but not always. I've had others take that attitude when all I was trying to do was give a complete answer to a complex question. How does one distinguish between that and "showing off"? For that matter, what's wrong with "showing off"? People are seldom attacked for showing off athletic ability. Like many intellectuals I had most tendencies to "show off" beaten out of me on the schoolyard. >Also, how about insults such as "dummy", "stupid bastard", "moron", "idiot", >"head up his ass", etc.? How about jokes (such as Polack jokes) that make >fun of someone's supposed stupidity? There are a lot of those, too. Certainly, name-calling and ethnic slurs are odious in any context. Applying them to a positive attribute such as high intelligence only makes them more so. >I think it's simple supply and demand. Certain people (myself included!) >are willing to become professors even though the salaries are lower, because >of other advantages of the profession (flexible hours, self-direction, etc). >If there were an oversupply of plumbers, the prices would come down, and >people would stop becoming plumbers. In fact, computer science faculty >salaries have gotten pretty good in the last few years, because of the >competition from industry. I've never yet heard anyone complain of an oversupply of qualified teachers. The way our school boards tell it they're scarce as hen's teeth. Yet the voters regularly defeat education funding issues at the polls. Then they wonder why their children can't read when they graduate high school. >I could be really wrong about this, because I don't know you personally. >However, I can't help but suspect that what really scares you might be the >every-day interactions you have with people, rather than abstractions >like "the culture of the United States". It might be more beneficial for >you to concentrate on the specifics of those interactions, and consider how >you might be able to improve them. No, you don't know me personally. If you did, you'd know my opinions about amateur psychology (I have a Master's in Clinical Psychology) (Sorry. Was that showing off?). Suffice to say that the above paragraph violates several sections of the APA ethics code (with the best of intentions, I'm sure). -- -_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- The Polymath (aka: Jerry Hollombe) Citicorp TTI Common Sense is what tells you that a ten 3100 Ocean Park Blvd. pound weight falls ten times as fast as a Santa Monica, CA 90405 one pound weight. (213) 450-9111, ext. 2483 {philabs,randvax,trwrb,vortex}!ttidca!ttidcc!hollombe