Since I have just read that “the intelligentsia” is usually now used to refer to artists etc. and doesn’t often include scientists, this isn’t as bad as I first thought; but still, it seems pretty silly to me—trying to appear deep by turning our expectations on their head. A common trick, and sometimes it can be used to make a good point… but what’s the point being made here? Ordinary people are more rational than those engaged in intellectual pursuits? I doubt that, though rationality is in short supply in either category; but in any case, we know the “ordinary man” is extremely foolish in his beliefs.
Folk wisdom and common sense are a favored refuge of those who like to mock those foolish, Godless int’lectual types, and that’s what this reminds me of; you know, the entirely too-common trope of the supposedly intelligent scientist or other educated person being shown up by the homespun wisdom and plain sense of Joe Ordinary. (Not to accuse Orwell of being anti-intellectual in general—I just don’t like this particular quote.)
but still, it seems pretty silly to me—trying to appear deep by turning our expectations on their head.
This quote isn’t just about seeming deep, it refers to a frequently observed phenomenon. I think two main reasons for it are that intellectuals are better at rationalizing beliefs they arrived at for non-smart reasons (there is even a theory that some intellectuals signal their intelligence by rationalizing absurd beliefs) and the fact that they’re frequently in ivory towers where day to day reality is less available.
Not to accuse Orwell of being anti-intellectual in general
I remember Tetlock’s Expert Political Judgment suggested a different mechanism for intelligence to be self-defeating: clever arguing. In a forecaster’s field of expertise, they have more material with which to justify unreasonable positions and refute reasonable ones, and therefore they are more able to resist the force of reality.
Since I have just read that “the intelligentsia” is usually now used to refer to artists etc. and doesn’t often include scientists, this isn’t as bad as I first thought; but still, it seems pretty silly to me—trying to appear deep by turning our expectations on their head. A common trick, and sometimes it can be used to make a good point… but what’s the point being made here? Ordinary people are more rational than those engaged in intellectual pursuits? I doubt that, though rationality is in short supply in either category; but in any case, we know the “ordinary man” is extremely foolish in his beliefs.
Folk wisdom and common sense are a favored refuge of those who like to mock those foolish, Godless int’lectual types, and that’s what this reminds me of; you know, the entirely too-common trope of the supposedly intelligent scientist or other educated person being shown up by the homespun wisdom and plain sense of Joe Ordinary. (Not to accuse Orwell of being anti-intellectual in general—I just don’t like this particular quote.)
This quote isn’t just about seeming deep, it refers to a frequently observed phenomenon. I think two main reasons for it are that intellectuals are better at rationalizing beliefs they arrived at for non-smart reasons (there is even a theory that some intellectuals signal their intelligence by rationalizing absurd beliefs) and the fact that they’re frequently in ivory towers where day to day reality is less available.
Depends on which type of anti-intellectualism you’re referring to.
I remember Tetlock’s Expert Political Judgment suggested a different mechanism for intelligence to be self-defeating: clever arguing. In a forecaster’s field of expertise, they have more material with which to justify unreasonable positions and refute reasonable ones, and therefore they are more able to resist the force of reality.