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Why professors, pundits, and policy wonks misunderstand the world

thesmartset.com

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Re: Why professors, pundits, and policy wonks misunderstand the world

#21

Post by Florin_Andrei »

throw_away_777 wrote: post #20

This article is saying smart people don't understand how the world works because most of the world's people are average intelligence. This sentiment is completely ridiculous, yet I'm sure a lot of people believe it because it makes them feel superior. Pundits and professors are often wrong, but it isn't because they are highly educated. I still trust the opinion of a professor rather than someone working at Pizza Hut…

> This article is saying smart people don't understand how the world works because most of the world's people are average intelligence.

Not at all. It says highly educated people are out of touch with the realities of life of average folks because these categories have very different ranges of first-hand experience.

Re: Why professors, pundits, and policy wonks misunderstand the world

#23

Post by anotherhacker »

An easier explanation: variation.

Systems can be tremendously complex. There are countless unknown and unknowable variables in play. Moreover, the interactions between those variables can also be unknown and unknowable.

The intellectual world (academia) is based upon professors and schools who can teach the "right way" of doing things and thinking. That's how PHDs work--you have to come up with a "new" idea to get your PHD. As you can see, it creates a conflict of interest.

It would be much better if academia taught simple principles, variability, and how to think.

Re: Why professors, pundits, and policy wonks misunderstand the world

#24

Post by Florin_Andrei »

beat wrote: post #18

pg's essays are a nice antidote to some of this nonsense. One that stood out for me was the idea of cities that concentrate intellectuals, which was studied much more deeply by pg in "Cities and Ambition".

I don't think this article contradicts anything that PG says. These are just different facets of the broad reality out there. What PG says applies pretty well to the elite group who create startups and push technology forward. This article highlights the discrepancy in first-hand experience between elites and average folks.

Both are valid.

Re: Why professors, pundits, and policy wonks misunderstand the world

#25

Post by hyperion2010 »

"The fact that we members of the intellectual professions are quite atypical of the societies in which we live tends to distort our judgment..." << Someone care to explain to me how being atypical distorts my judgement? This piece is not very substanative beyond enumerating how PPPs are different, it then merely says "they don't understand because of their difference." That seems rather like ad hominem.

Re: Why professors, pundits, and policy wonks misunderstand the world

#27

Post by BookmarkSaver »

>For generations, populists of various kinds have argued that intellectuals are unworldly individuals out of touch with the experiences and values of most of their fellow citizens. While anti-intellectual populists have often been wrong about the gold standard or the single tax or other issues, by and large they have been right about intellectuals.

So... intellectuals were right about the issues that they were focused on, but somehow populists are right that they are out of touch? Those seem contradictory to me, if they are problematically out of touch, then why were their ideas still correct? Who cares? At worst these seem like separate qualities, clearly being out of touch didn't make them wrong about the actual issues directly.

Re: Why professors, pundits, and policy wonks misunderstand the world

#28

Post by alricb »

Very American-centric (but then this is by someone who helped found the "New America Foundation"); for instance outside the US Academia is mostly supported by governments, not gifts. Intellectuals all over can still have their heads up their asses, but that's not particularly new. The figure of the out-of-touch intellectual was common in the 19th century (e.g. Peter in War and Peace).

Many professors do realize that their lives are quite different from those of most folks, but they're not often found in American elite institutions, so they don't show up on CNN.

Re: Why professors, pundits, and policy wonks misunderstand the world

#29

Post by MollyR »

chm wrote: post #5

This link is in first position, was submitted 20 minutes ago and has 14 points, yet the host is unreachable. I'm interested in knowing if people actually read the article or upvoted the title?

It's working intermittently. The first time I clicked it, it worked, but not the second.

Re: Why professors, pundits, and policy wonks misunderstand the world

#30

Post by burkaman »

klank wrote: post #12
rubidium wrote: post #3

Glad to see someone acknowledging the myopic view of most intellectuals. During my time in academia (PhD), I'll admit now I had very little idea of what life was like for the majority of people. Since then I've been living among many working class and poverty-level folks. Average household income in my neighborhood is <$22K (U.S.). As a result, my thinking has changed to unions are overall good ideas, UBI is foolish,…

> ramping up education investment is pretty minimal in its returns. Creating real neighborhood community (work, education, family, etc) is the best solution I'm confused about your stance on education. At first blush you seem to be diminishing it's impact while promoting it. Care to elaborate?

I think the idea is rather than just pouring money directly into schools, focusing on creating communities and resources so that students can actually take advantage of what's available. Buying new textbooks and facilities doesn't help when half the students don't have enough to eat, don't have role models and tutors, don't have anyone telling them that education is important.
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