Anti-intellectualism inhibits learning

[lightshark]

Originally Posted by Relambrien

If a person measures a distance of exactly three yards with a yard stick, there is no difference than if he had measured it with a micrometer. Unnecessarily using the micrometer when the yard stick gives the exact same results is, as devonin put it, "the height of folly."

True, but this fact applies only to a distance of three yards, as Devonin implied. Anything requiring accuracy above a yardstick's will inherently require the micrometer. Fortunately, communication often does not need to be expressed in anything less than the "three yards," so the use of the micrometer is left to the discretion of the user.

Vocabulary is a tool whose sole purpose is to make thoughts and ideas easier to convey. Nonetheless, with the usage of increasingly precise words comes a certain degree of assertion, which is sometimes raised to the point of coercion. Consequently, vocabulary is too often turned against its purpose and made into a weapon.

It's also important to bear in mind that vocabulary's degree of improvement upon communication is strictly limited to the comprehension of the audience. Overstepping that boundary results in an actual decrease of communicative efficiency...

...unless, of course, you're addressing a room of English scholars or something of the like. : )

Originally Posted by Relambrien

Intellectualism when it serves a purpose is very highly regarded, but intellectualism when it serves no purpose, and only exists for the sake of being intellectual, is condemned.

Agreed, and in today's society, intellectualism is sadly becoming a medium for manipulation. Then again, such a statement is difficult (or rather, contradictory) to say, since those with true intelligence (and once more, even that is subjectively defined) should be capable of resisting corruption.