Wealth, Intellectualism, and Individualism, Part 5 (intellectualism)

Continuing on the wealth, individualism, and intellectualism series…

Part 1,2,3,4

The final pillar is intellectualism. Thanks to recent economic trends, Web 2.0, ‘nerd culture’, the growing importance of STEM, ‘esoteric celebrities‘, long-form journalism, as well as the elevation and idolization of intellectuals in public life, particularity for STEM fields, and recent groundbreaking discoveries and progress in physics, mathematics AI, and computer science, right now America is in something of an ‘intellectual renaissance‘.

This section, the longest of the three, covers:

1. ‘intellect’ as a form of social capital

2. rise of ‘nerd culture’ and cultural appropriation

3. the post-2008 ‘intellectual renaissance’ in America, as evidenced by the increased demand for complicated, esoteric subjects, that until recently were neglected, and in the process turning many intellectuals into ‘esoteric celebrities’

4. rejection of ‘low information’ in post-2013 internet journalism and in online discourse; ‘fact checking’, correctness more important than political tribal loyalty; proliferation of the ‘contrarian mainstream’ and esoteric ideologies

5. the ‘Social Darwinist’ aspect of how less intelligent people are faring worse in America’s competitive post-2008 economy

6. ‘shared narratives’ (#2,3,4,6 are under the umbrella of ‘intellectualism culture’)

7. the wealth-intellectualism-individualism synthesis

Intellectualism is how you become a part of the process, the national debate, rather than merely a spectator. It’s a common misconception that to be ingratiated you must conform, be ordinary, but it’s actually the opposite: to become a participant, you must be exceptional.

To be continued