tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5951901420429283333.post1548814552712790119..comments2010-08-24T00:36:23.701-07:00Comments on Recent Reads: The Last IntellectualsNels Abramshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11080071498931697658noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5951901420429283333.post-47518703515921647382008-07-17T03:53:00.000-07:002008-07-17T03:53:00.000-07:00I have been thinking about this issue a lot lately...I have been thinking about this issue a lot lately and would like to know more about the "other books" you recommend. Please direct.<BR/><BR/>I agree that we have access to endless amount of information, choice and reading material. Your average citizen can pursue all intellectual curiosities with a few clicks of the mouse. But is that enough? Do you have a group of people who are available and willing to engage in discussions on this material? <BR/><BR/>The dilemma is that this intellectual material has become distributed in new ways. This for several different reasons and as a result "the intellectual" has become more diffused throughout society. This makes him/her much harder to locate. I have identified a few major reasons. <BR/><BR/>1. Mass media (TV, major newspapers, radio) is in the complete control of the corporations. Intellectualism and raw capitalism have never gone hand in hand. However, there was a time that true thinkers had access to these channels. It is my belief that over the years a constant numbing of mass media users by the corporate messages, in one form or another, has made them less demanding in intellectual content. This is not to say that the mass is stupider. Many have just been able to turn towards other channels. This leads to my next point.<BR/><BR/>2. Fragmentation. The thinkers now have gone to their little niches and are hard to find for the masses and easy to find for those niche customers in search of what they have to say. The internet is one source. The universities another. However, universities are in more of a silo than ever with their 2.1 million different academic journals. (avg academic publication is read by 2.2 people - 1 of which is the author).<BR/><BR/>3. Geography. What you mentioned in your review is true. The intellectuals are not in close contact anymore. Therefore, my thinking is that they are not able (forced) to defend their ideas anymore verbally. Conversation in a café in Paris at 3:00pm on a Tuesday is a bit hard when rent prices make it difficult for someone working 50 hour weeks to afford living there. So, I question if an intellectual living on the farm or in the ghetto is going to have the daily stimulation needed to rattle their cage and force them to strengthen their arguments.TBlazehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02682676885235656490noreply@blogger.com