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Originally Posted by Glice

Pretentious suggests pretence. Most intellectuals are too earnest. I'm getting to really dislike for myself, and for all the intellectuals I know, the constant back-footing and defence we have to provide. Obnoxious, arrogant, obsequious, obstreperant, contrarian, infelicitous, introverted, pedantic, bathetic, pathetic, onanistic, puritanical [etc] - there are all valid insults for intellectuals. I don't know a single one who is genuinely pretentious - I know plenty of fake intellectuals though, and that's merely tragic. Pretentious suggests the contrivance of an actor, whom, one assumes, would always sublate the cogniscence of their contrivance.

I'm probably clarifying unnecessarily here, but Glice makes an important distinction between intellectuals by definition, and their imposters, which negate said definition. A distinction I failed to make. I am certainly not saying that all purported 'intellectuals' are by default pretentious.

And Rob, I'm not disagreeing with your viewpoint either - the point resides in the inherent difference between those who are genuinely curious about/have an interest in pioneering new aesthetic frontiers, so to speak, and those who have simply adopted a policy of doing so for egocentric masturbation.

It's akin to the habit of lauding (as Glice pointed out) writers like Kundera or Gogol (that's right, I've grown to detest that silly prick), neglecting their utter lack of worthiness save for enthusiastic and long-winded PR by canonesque committees, and summarily dismissing infinitely better writers for their popularity, possession of a monosyllabic last name, whatever half-assed anti-mainstream reason they can regurgitate.

That's merely an example. I'm too pissy to articulate myself better. But I think the attitude I speak of can best be summed up by:

"Too many people like that. Therefore, it must be easily accessible. Therefore, it must be suited to those of average intelligence, and fail to challenge the intellectually superior. Therefore, I shall dismiss it, to show that I, of course, rise above the throngs of the mediocre. I'm so avant-garde."

Assbags.

I am speaking of the general population; this is not limited to the SY board. In speaking of the board, I am not asserting that EVERY poster falls into the deplorable category of the Pretentious Intellectual Fuck; however, there are a good many that do. That is merely my opinion, and a presumptuous one at that, but it is what it is.