(This thread (I hope it will become one) is based on http://www.wrongplanet.net/postxf62688-0-15.html)
In my mind I am now sitting at a table with some other people and one after another we stand up and say 'Hi, I'm Hanwag and I'm an elitist' and the rest of the table starts clapping. In a way elitism is like alcoholism, only not as accepted in society. In the thread on most hated traits elitism is spontaniously named and I believe in general society this sentiment is shared.
Still I have to say I am one.
Here I'd like to explain a bit, or maybe even defend my feelings on this. I know I am going to be hated for it by some, but I hope you'll at least listen to me. In this forum I am mostly elitist by throwing long boring analysis on every subject but in general I am most elitist by preferring thinking (intelligent) people to other people. And by thinking I belong with these people.
In real life I have been scolded most for using so-called difficult words (that is btw the great thing on this forum, I know hardly any difficult words in English and misspell the ones I do know) and thinking too much on subjects. The question here is am I evil because of that. I have to answer it with a definite Maybe.
But if I am evil for it I am evil because I was born that way. I can't remember a time when this was not the case. I have been either called professor, nerd, or idiot since very early in school life and I could only make an end to this after 18. And I don't even know if that was because then I started living with only university student or because I have learned more. Even my kindergarten teacher hated me for being elitist (and not wanting to spend time poking paper with a needle while I knew scissors existed) and wanted me to go to a school for bad students. An IQ-test (only official one I did) saved me that time, which is one of the reasons I still think their existence is a good thing. I won't go into numbers here, but the conversation suddenly shifted to skipping classes. This never happened, probably to spare me socially. I still don't know if that is a good thing or not.
You might not like me for saying aloud I am doing fairly well in that area, but effectively that is forcing me to hide what I am. I never asked for it and I never worked for it. It is just something that is. And things that are should be allowed to be I believe. The same goes for my problems. At least the forums should be a place where I can name them. I know I have the memory of a goldfish in an old peoples home, the concentration of a squirrel on speed and the patience... ah let's get on with it. I am therefore working at a level that might not be perfect for me, but I have to accept this.
Exactly why do many people hate intelligent people so? It's probably because society values it more than it should. For some weird reason intelligence seems to be connected to the value of a person as such. That is actually a horrible thing. A person should just be valued as a person and maybe for morals. But the effect of it is that if I'm saying I am more intelligent than most people (or in another way that I think most people are stupid, including myself, and excluding only a small group I admire) people seem to hear me saying 'I am better (worth more) than other people'. I am not... Besides that very few of the very intelligent people I know (I am lucky to know a fairly large number) have that view. There is really no need for it anyway (sometimes some behaviour can be seen as stupid, but that is just human, isn't it?). The funny thing in this is that when I say I am good at running (well, I was some years ago) nobody would scold me for it! And I am truly more arrogant or rather proud of that than of the rest.
The only question left is should I be allowed to be myself even if other people don't feel good about it. I hope the answer is yes and others can just start feeling better anyway. I kind of like people.
13 Apr 2008, 12:24 pm
no reactions. To make it easier I will make a summary:
