[9] Intellectual Snobs Ruin Everything

In this episode, I go off on a tangent and talk about intellectual classism in the world and how I’ve been impacted by it in my travels.

Summary:

• Events like Brexit (the referendum) bring out the worst in people.
• Many people in Western nations have a serious problem with intellectual classism – looking down on others as inferior because of their beliefs or lack of higher education.
• A lot of the problems in the world exist because intellectuals get involved in issues they know nothing about (believing they know better).
• Alex Rawlings (one of the more prominent and well-known polyglots online) exemplifies intellectual snobbery. He preemptively blocked me on every social media channel after I stood up for the ‘peasant class’ when he mocked and insulted them repeatedly.
• Worst of all, this classism is terribly damaging to communities abroad and further harms the reputation of Westerners.

Related blog post:

I talked about what I call ‘intellectual world fixers’ and how the world needs less of them here.

Resources:

One of the greatest thinkers in modern times wrote an excellent book called Intellectuals and Society that I highly recommend.