From my soapbox, it so often appears that movies, pop-culture, conversation, politics, or our society in general is trending toward an anti-intellectualism. It seems like populism, political correctness, hedonism, and so many other substitutes for genuine rational reasoning have become the norm. But, maybe they have ever been the norm. Maybe Epicurus, Cicero, Spinoza, and Newton felt the men of their times were opponents of reason and friends of simplistic passion.
Having said all this, though, I am coming to another realization. While intellectualism still seems important, raw intellect, itself, seems to be of less value than I once thought. I know a great many intelligent people who do no more in service to their species, community, or universe than does the mentally handicapped guy who tears my ticket at the movie theater. In fact, in some ways these intelligent pretenders to importance do even less for the world, because they have not even the virtue of inspiring by their very incapacity.
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