Can you imagine a beautiful woman walking around with a nametag that says: “I am beautiful”? It would be immodest and indeed obscene. If she is indeed beautiful, others should point that out and she should be happy to hear it and not say it. For those of us who actually link language with behavior, the immodesty of advertising oneself can do irreparable damage to one’s image.
You hear a lot of lingual abuse from movie stars and sports people, who are good at what they do, yet miserably inadequate when it comes to stringing words in public. Locker-room interviews are safe and mundane so long as the interviewee sticks to approved clichés. Once a departure is attempted from the set sentences, disaster strikes.
We, of course, have our own way of doing things and we usually strike a high and singular note that borders on unequaled musical octaves. Take the word “intellectual” as an example; a word that is being abused to a point where we have a conference of such labeled people taking place as we write and read.
What is an intellectual?
If one has diplomas and certificates to show for his or her labor, the person would be called “educated”, which, in many cases, does not mean intellectual. An enlightened human being without certificates (bought or earned) is an intellectual who will be modest enough not to put a tag on his chest at a conference that says, “Hello, I am your local intellectual of the stone age type.”
Then again, if all those present at such a function are of the “intellectual” persuasion, does it mean that all those outside the hallowed hallways are idiots or philistines? And who, pray tell, gives the stamp of authentication on such resumes when all is being considered? Are the designators themselves “super intellectuals” with multiple PhDs from the four corners of the earth? Or is it closer to the harsh truth of a government bureaucrat with elementary education and a long and detailed agenda?
No matter how you spin it, we look and sound silly — not to mention uneducated. Intellectuals should have enough intellect to object to such a term and such a label. Credibility is at stake. And in today’s world we need credibility more than we need weapons. There is nothing wrong with like-minded people meeting and discussing pertinent issues. It is indeed a very civilized activity. But elitism is an abhorrent pose. I am sure most of the delegates would resist the idea that they are living in an ivory tower. Why then build one and roam in it like dazed ants sprayed with a banned can of DDT?
