It's probably some part of human nature that nobody likes the kid who raises his hand all the time. Although, I think that's also an American thing. We're a competitive culture in a good old boy-slap you on the back-take your money-praise Jesus kind of way. And we're a pretty individualistic culture too. So, the raised hand is a big old "look at me, I'm smart" kind of gesture and people get mad when someone else is the center of attention.
So, that leads to the problem of having some sort of an intellectual discussion or conversation without being precious. Because one theory holds that people only bother being intellectual at all as some sort of maladaptive mating strategy. Picture tweady looking guy at a cocktail party talking about his research into the meta structure of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
And I think it is really a legitimate question to wonder why anyone should bother being an intellectual at all. It certainly isn't the hedonistic choice. And no matter how smart you're born, it does take some effort to read a few books, talk to a few people, and spin a few theories. So why do all this just to make people angry at you for having something to say?
Of course you could argue that it does not necessarily follow that if you know something you have to raise your hand and tell people about it. That's more than likely a question of personality and many intellectuals are quite shy people. But people who don't share their thoughts start thinking ever weirder things. So, it may be necessary for the mental health of these (often) shy people to talk about things and therefore to do the adult equivalent of hand raising.
My current theory on this is that if you're going to say anything at all you have to constantly court preciousness and that's just inevitable. There are ways to balance this out. So here are my top five suggestions for unprecious intellectualizing.
(1) invent new words
(2) swear liberally i.e. that fucking Pynchon
(3) take up a physically dangerous hobby i.e. bullriding
(4) drink democratic drinks i.e. beer
(5) spell things wrong (I'm actually a natural at this)
But sometimes you just have to be precious and that's life. We can't all be cool all the time.
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2 comments:
How about if I just get a bullhorn?
The common occurence of precious people is a useful tool. Personally I like it because it allows me to manipulate them,
it goes like this:
1) listen (most people's favorite subject is themselves)
2) comment politely, be interested,
3) express tacit admiration
4) confirm the precious person's most preferred self image
result: control and camaraderie.
I used to be precious--slowly my interest in intellection as a precious pursuit morphed into a simple desire to use intellection to make more money and or amuse myself, rather than garnering attention. I don't object to preciousness though, it is quite useful in others.
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