How do you put on an intellectual air?

[photosynthesis]

[quote name='Light and Truth' date='Nov 21 2005, 09:05 PM']I want to know how to sort of put on an intellectual air more than I know now.  Can anyone help me understand how?
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A true intellectual does not need to put on an intellectual air. Just be the smart, witty person that you are! Don't pretend to have read books that you've never even cracked and PLEASE don't feign a foreign accent (have you seen Bridget Jones' Diary?). Reading the newspaper and paying attention to what's going on around you is always a good thing to do, but newspapers are written so that non-intellectuals can understand them, as most articles are around the 8th grade reading level. God humbles the proud and exalts the humble.

[quote name='Nathan' date='Nov 21 2005, 10:44 PM']Too often in universities, "intellectual" means flaming liberal, or communist. People with dreadlocks and dirty clothes who worship Chomsky, engage in left-wing hyperbole, and attend bi-weekly "Bush smells of elderberries" rallies in between hackey-sack sessions.
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so true!!! That's definitely my experience with intellectualism and academia. If that's what it means to be an intellectual, I want no part in it. especially the Noam Chomsky :

[jiyoung]

I've always heard "putting on airs" as a negative term...Most people I know who are really smart don't parade it. If you affect intellectual airs really obviously, people will know and their opinion of you might sour. There's something to be said about good grammar and such when speaking, but you shouldn't change to "fit in" somewhere. You might be trying to conform to a stereotype...I grew up around the "A" kids and the "intellectuals" and to be honest, unless they were talking about something serious, they were just like everyone else. Bottom line is, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. You don't need to put on airs...

[Nathan]

[quote name='photosynthesis' date='Nov 22 2005, 02:24 AM']so true!!!  That's definitely my experience with intellectualism and academia.  If that's what it means to be an intellectual, I want no part in it.  especially the Noam Chomsky :[right][snapback]797534[/snapback][/right][/quote]

I would add, too, that in secular universities, no matter how much of an intellectual you are, if you are a political conservative and a religious person (particularly a Christan), most "intellectuals" will NOT see you as an intellectual, as one of them. In their minds, being a conservative and being religious automatically disqualifies you from being an intellectual. And it ain't just the students that think like this.

Which is ridiculous, of course, but that's the way it is.

Edited November 22, 2005 by Nathan

[cmotherofpirl]

NEVER try to bluff in a conversation, if you don't know somethng admit it.
If you don't know how to pronounce a word, check before you speak.
Nothing is funnier or sadder than a person pretending to be what they are not.
I think its most important to be interested and curious about everything in the universe. Even though I have a college degree I admit to not being an intellectual.

Edited November 22, 2005 by cmotherofpirl

[ofpheritup]

[quote name='Totus Tuus' date='Nov 21 2005, 09:18 PM']Just be yourself and let them learn from YOU!
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I had the answer and my computer "burped" so I am answering AGAIN.
HERE GOES.

The above answer is "Perfect." It is the only answer needed for any and all situations (well not any and all) but you understand.

Do you want to feel as though you fit in? Of course. Do you want them to like you? Probably. That on some level is what we all search for.

B...U...T.... What you need to watch out for is the "price tag."
What is it going to cost you? If you have to be someone that "God did not create" or " you are not accepted simply being you."
The price is too high. And ain't nobody worth that.

God knew what He was doing when He made you.
My expression: "If you're good enough for Him, you're good enough for anyone."

Please think about this. This will apply to all of your life, not just college.

[argent_paladin]

1. wear a pocket protector and/or white labcoat
2. speak in Latin
3. search for new prime numbers in your spare time
4. Avoid 1 and 2 syllable words
5. Drop in German and French words in conversation
6. name drop 20th century Continental philosophers like Heidegger, Sartre and Derrida
7. definitely wear glasses
8. begin sentences with "I would suggest"
9. never use slang, or even contractions. Speak in fully formed paragraphs. Preferrably in RP (recieved pronunciation AKA the Queen's English).
10. Win a Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Medicine or Physics. Or the Field's Medal for Mathematics.

Or you can build a holography lab like I did in high school. Or carry around a periodic table in your wallet, like I did. But I wasn't putting on airs. I was just a nerdy, nerdy guy.

[Nathan]

You forgot 11: Don't talk about God, or in any way reveal that you are a Christian.

[Old_Joe]

[quote name='Nathan' date='Nov 22 2005, 10:41 AM']You forgot 11: Don't talk about God, or in any way reveal that you are a Christian.


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Who says intelligent people can't believe in God? If they are truly wise, they would use their intellectual reasoning to further prove the existence of God. Einstein once said something like, "The more I learn about the universe the more I believe in God."

Also, Intelligence is kinda relative. A person can know a lot of facts, but not be able to correlate them together. Also, a person may be knowledgeable of certain subjects, but be lacking in others.

Edited November 22, 2005 by Old_Joe

[Anastasia13]

[quote name='Nathan' date='Nov 22 2005, 09:41 AM']You forgot 11: Don't talk about God, or in any way reveal that you are a Christian.[right][snapback]797696[/snapback][/right]
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Dude, why should I let the faithless of academia and those too pride full to acknowledge the obvious reality of some sort of diety define what intellectual is to me? Isn't that just dumb?

Signed,
A sort of molinist, futurist, non-baptist, afterlife-traditionalist, non-overtly charasmatic, Zwinglian (view of Lord's supper) Protestant.

[Nathan]

Hey, I agree with you guys. I'm just saying that most people don't.

[phatcatholic]

[quote name='Light and Truth' date='Nov 22 2005, 11:35 AM']Signed,
A sort of molinist, futurist, non-baptist, afterlife-traditionalist, non-overtly charasmatic, Zwinglian (view of Lord's supper) Protestant.
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we might have to take a hard look at some of those descriptors

[photosynthesis]

[quote name='Light and Truth' date='Nov 22 2005, 11:35 AM']Dude, why should I let the faithless of academia and those too pride full to acknowledge the obvious reality of some sort of diety define what intellectual is to me?  Isn't that just dumb?

Signed,
A sort of molinist, futurist, non-baptist, afterlife-traditionalist, non-overtly charasmatic, Zwinglian (view of Lord's supper) Protestant.
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what on earth is an afterlife-traditionalist?

[theculturewarrior]

Intellectual airs are getting me through grad school. Half the time, I have no idea what I'm talking about. But I make it sound real good.

[jiyoung]

It's different when you're writing essays...

[theculturewarrior]

Not with me!

Although sometimes I don't sound so good under pressure.