Intellectual/Pseudo-intellectual

[Utter Shit]

Give us a cuddle, big man.

[lactating man nips]

"Sam the pseud" brillant.

[Marvin]

I think Simon's wrong and I think the reason green crayon is unpopular is not because he is a character or performs in his post (what's the harm in expressing yourself in a creative way?) but because he posts in one thread, treating it like a column where he doesn't even interact with any other posts.

[Utter Shit]

Perhaps I'm not explaining myself properly, I mean what you said...treating your posts like a column ie. a performance.

[Marvin]

But that's not what I mean. There are some posters who post in a slightly-performancey way, like say john self, that are brilliant, in fact a lot of us do it anyway, if you do creative writing for example, then flourishes of that are bound to come through in your posting style, but they still interact with threads and posters. green crayon literally just comes in and copies his blog on to a thread once a week, which is annoying.

[sproggy]

Reading is all well and good and does wonders for IKEA, but it's the understanding that's the tricky part.

[Backstage With Slowdive]

Sam never struck me as a pseud, just an enthusiastic youngster. the problem was with Ciaran.

[Ciarán]

the problem was with Ciaran.

*waves*

[gigolo aunts aren't gentlemen]

I like Ciaran, I definitely think he fits that definition of an intellectual someone posted, eager to share the knowledge and that.  I wish there were more posters like him and less 'yes Lalla' posters like you.  That's what I wish.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

Isn't the problem that intellectual posturing and pseudo-intellectual posturing look pretty similar to the untrained eye?

[Oscar]

Isn't the problem that intellectual posturing and pseudo-intellectual posturing look pretty similar to the untrained eye?

No.

[John Self]

Heh! You should start your own blog Oscar: "One-word reply from the untrained eye." Up to you: I don't know how comfortable you feel about being on a platform.

I agree with everything gigolo aunts aren't gentlemen has said. Ciaran's never struck me a pseud, just someone a bit older than Sam, and one hell of a lot more enthusiastic and engaging. (No offence Sam: very few posters, myself definitely excluded, have shown the kind of effort and commitment to this site as Ciaran has.) And yeah, I'm sure he can get peoples' backs up on the philosophy and religion threads, but when it comes to writing about pop music, he's the best poster we've got, absolutely peerless. And pop music's more important.

Seems pretty obvious to me the worse pseudo-intellectual we've got on board is sproggy. Just look at that post up there: patronisingly pointing out the difference between reading and understanding, smugly implying he has special insider knowledge, the oh-so-casual reference to IKEA... And of course his avatar just seals the deal. *shakes fist* The hell with YOU you four-eyed librarian!

If there's one thing worse than pseudo-intellectuals, it's people who use message boards as a platform for 'performances' to show how clever and witty they are. Or, more to the point, if there's one thing worse than pseudo-intellectuals,  it's people who use message boards as a platform for 'performances' to show how clever and witty they are, when actually they prove the opposite every time. green crayon is the worst example of this, but you're not far off with efforts like this.


I'd say we should make a "Types of poster/posting you hate" thread, but in truth it would be hypocritical because we'd end up a bunch of posing Brooker-lite misanthropists, and would therefore be more annoying than the people we're moaning about.

There's every chance I fall bang within that group, Simon, and that we differ massively in outlooks (for instance, that post by ruffian that you slated made me really laugh, and perhaps start to love him). If I do, then I'm sorry I drive you to such depths of foul cancerous rage you think I should be submerged in an acid-bath full of month-starved piranhas while I get my malformed empty skull pierced by a large twisted rusty piece of... oooh, something-or-other, but I think you're being unfair. There's loads of posters here who obviously put a great deal of care and effort into their posts, and of whom, when I read them, I think "Do you write other stuff, elsewhere? Cos you should do- you should at least certainly want to." And yeah, there's an egotism there, it's an inescapable aspect of the job- a writer is, by definition, someone who loves the sound of their own voice. But we're all egotists here, aren't we? Unless you're posting a question, or a reply to a question asked directly of you, you're always operating on the (possibly wrong) assumption that someone will want to hear what you've got to say. You might deny it, and it might be buried deep, but it's there. Why the fuck would you bother if it wasn't?

And I like people showing off, online. Actually, not just online. Obviously not each single instance, indiscriminately, but as a vague, general idea- I like it, I think it's an endearing trait, and one far more common than you seem to think Simon. I mean, you say don't like people who use message boards as a platform for 'performances' to show how clever and witty they are. But what's the difference between that and you, say, cracking a joke when you're with a group of mates? That could be said to be showing off. But it's not just that, is it, it's missing out the most important part: you want to make your friends laugh. Maybe it's a desire to be liked and well-thought-of, but there's also the desire to entertain, and to me that's a beautiful motivation, and one that it's really mean-spirited to ignore. Even if someone fails in the effort, I appreciate the effort. I like the idea of someone sticking on their prose shoes and doing a little dance for my amusement: even if they fall flat on their face, they're a fuck of a lot more fun than the kind of person who's stood by the sidelines going, "Dancing is for show-offs.  IMHO. Anyone confirm/deny?" There's people on here who I absolutely disagree with on just about matter under the sun, but because of the effort they put into their posts (or, alternatively, seeing this place as a 'platform' (and since when have platforms been so bad?)), I do have a massive grudging respect for. The best example of this for me is Catalogue Trousers.

Funnily enough Simon, I remembered you saying something like this before, here. I was reading that thread today, and, a couple of posts beneath, The Boston Crab did a blinding pisstake of Green Crayon. I remember enjoying quite a few of his (GC's) posts last year, but TBC's parody made me think, "Actually yeah, they are a bit of a dick sometimes." It's the lack-of-interaction thing, isn't it? That's when (even for me) the egotism seems too big, or perhaps just too unfriendly: then I think Don't JUST come here to dance and then fuck off- you're not the only dancer here! Look around at the other people making an effort, smile and wave, exchange pleasantries every once in a while. And I remember the only times he did respond to people (usually people who slagged him off, for reasons such as you might give), he responded with an immaculately-crafted Brooker-esque putdown: "You're clearly the sort of person who goes to a swimming-baths but doesn't swim, instead they stand there, pale pudgy body half-submerged in chorine and tears, looking at all the beautiful normal people while feverishly rummaging their hand inside their trunks and" etc. Whether you think that sort of thing's funny or not (I tended to think it was), it seems, in retrospect, like a stand-up comedian's stock heckler-putdown, like "is that your face or has your neck just exploded?"- i.e., it's got no relevance to the actual discussion, and could have been said to anyone.

The main reason I think he's crap is that he seems to have changed: doesn't seem to like the show anymore. I'm one of those people who no longer watch it, but still likes to pop in on that thread every now and then, and if someone's gonna treat it as their weekly blog, I'd rather it was someone who has some affection for what they're discussing. I nearly always feel that about stuff anyway.

And, alternatively of course, there's quite a few people who don't interact with other posters, but whose posts are so one-line dull that you couldn't possibly assume they're using this place as a platform to prance on and show off how witty and clever they are. But maybe that's exactly what they're doing- they're just so thick and boring we can't credit it.


Anyway, back on-topic, Sam's Intellectual/Pseudo-intellectual concerns: it was absolutely nailed, case closed, with the first reply (which is perhaps an indicator of why it's gone off-topic so quickly):

Why would you like to be classed as an intellectual? What difference does it make to your life?

This kind of deliberate self-labelling will only limit your worldview in the end. It's as limiting as saying 'I could never respect someone who reads the Daily Mail' or 'I don't like Chinese food', only 62% more smug.

I'll soon start a thread about how one perceives other human beings, I think that will give you an opportunity to share some of your passion for life without being entangled in this kind of ephemeral navel-gazing.

Edit: I'm obviously a pseud, for what it's worth.

Brilliantly put. And I can't wait to read that thread.


Edit: Yeah I'm obviously a pseud too, but as Kierkegaard said in For Self-Examination: Recommended to the Present Age (1851), "Takes one to know one! Aaaaah, gutted"

[Hank_Kingsley]

Sam never struck me as a pseud, just an enthusiastic youngster. the problem was with Ciaran.

[youtube=425,350]http://youtube.com/watch?v=aM_BmSUCHjk[/youtube]

[rudi]

It's the constant self-referencing that's so draining.

26 "I"s in the opening post alone.

Pseudo-intellectual? Perhaps. Actual Solipsist? Certainly.

[sproggy]

The hell with YOU you four-eyed librarian!

I had to google 'pseudo-intellectual' which shows you what level I'm working on.

A pseudointellectual may affect traits that he stereotypically associates with persons of intellectual privilege, such as the display of books, classical music and art or the use of complex language, for the purpose of seeming intellectual.

Oooh that'll cause a few red faces.

[Sam]

It's the constant self-referencing that's so draining.

26 "I"s in the opening post alone.

Pseudo-intellectual? Perhaps. Actual Solipsist? Certainly.

To be fair, this thread has been the only really solipsitic thread I have posted in the last couple of months (I think.) I've been mainly trying to keep a low profile and most of my posts have been in respone to other threads, rather than starting loads of threads all about me like I used to.

Anyway, I am trying not to be so much of a cunt so bear with me.

[Utter Shit]

To be fair, this thread has been the only really solipsitic thread I have posted in the last couple of months (I think.) I've been mainly trying to keep a low profile and most of my posts have been in respone to other threads, rather than starting loads of threads all about me like I used to.

Anyway, I am trying not to be so much of a cunt so bear with me.

I = 4
I've = 1
My = 1
Me = 2

;)

[ziggy starbucks]

It's the constant self-referencing that's so draining.

26 "I"s in the opening post alone.

an I for an I