Monday, September 8, 2008

What is an Intellectual?

Please read the commentary on the attached link. Essentially, the writer argues (persuasively) that while liberal arts professors seem to get away with shrugging off the need for them to knowing math and science, the reverse is rarely true. The writer makes the case that to be a true intellectual you need to grasp all knowledge. It makes sense. Why should a biology professor have to listen to a sociologist complain about pseudo-science, when sociology profs are allowed to attack scientists as being uninformed about the human condition? I have been talking to journalism professors lately about the problem of writers who don't like doing math. That is a subset (pardon the mathematical expression) of the illiteracy issue covered by this writer. Please go to the link for the essay...then let me know what you think.

http://insidehighered.com/views/2008/08/04/orzel

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