Drug users are Modernists who despise Classicism

[Its a Plant]

Am I just a total nerd for wanting to expand my mind in this way, despite being surrounded by the ignorant?"

Lol, in all fairness, no one goes to parties to "expand their mind" like you described. Parties are parties. You're not a nerd for wanting to expand your mind at all, just don't go to a social setting like a party and expect people to open up to you about their views on 16th Century Roman culture. Now if everyone is tripping balls, then have at it! And just b/c people don't see and do things like you doesn't make them ignorant. Quit throwing that word out there so much. Use your intellect to "educate" others, not put them down. It's a gift. Share it! Everyone needs an open mind, eh?

Don't read into any of the above as an attack, please. Just throwing my 2 cents out there b/c I find your views on a lot of things very interesting. Either take it to heart or ignore it. Your call. Have a good day

[burnable]

Lol, in all fairness, no one goes to parties to "expand their mind" like you described. Parties are parties. You're not a nerd for wanting to expand your mind at all, just don't go to a social setting like a party and expect people to open up to you about their views on 16th Century Roman culture. Now if everyone is tripping balls, then have at it! And just b/c people don't see and do things like you doesn't make them ignorant. Quit throwing that word out there so much. Use your intellect to "educate" others, not put them down. It's a gift. Share it! Everyone needs an open mind, eh?

Don't read into any of the above as an attack, please. Just throwing my 2 cents out there b/c I find your views on a lot of things very interesting. Either take it to heart or ignore it. Your call. Have a good day

I'm not offended. I only use the word 'ignorant' in a relative sense. Such as those people 'ignored' what i had to say and it makes them ignorant in that sense. I could just as easily say I was 'ignorant' because I was 'ignoring' the the appeal of a monster truck rally. In retrospect, though, I just shouldn't ever use the word because it is so common and so easily associated with an attempt to generalize and classify or label groups of people, which I don't like doing. thanx for your scrutiny

[Dante Alighieri]

to dante: these verbal assaults toward you are mostly ill-founded. I see that you made an observation based on the most typical drug-user. As you've seen with your responses, there are exceptions to that type.
What I enjoy so much about this thread is that it got the attention of the sophisticated and intelligent ppl on these boards who usually don't care to comment in a less thought-inspiring forum. I'm sure most of them are quietly proud of their elevated minds and don't enjoy being classified with those who prefer more intellectually deficient, pacifying activities. For that reason, I'd make less general dictums if I did have something to say, that way there'd be room for the smart ones to feel they weren't the targets of accusation.

However, your first post hit home immediately to me; I'm always trying to talk about classical or sophisticated topics to people I party with, and they generally groove on it sufficiently, but at the end it usually seems like their attitude is "whatever, I just came here to party, not to learn and shit." And I'm thinking, "But that's what partying is to me. Am I just a total nerd for wanting to expand my mind in this way, despite being surrounded by the ignorant?"

You're a cool fucker dude, don't let these jackasses give u shit-the ignorant tend to get mad when they're confronted with something they don't understand

So true, it just boils down to one thing - People, and not necessarily drug users, but people in general, don't seem to like Intellectuals, if you look at History, you'll see it's littered with examples of persecution of intellectuals because people were either scared of jealous of them. The Soviet Union is one example, but anti-intellectualism is also very prevelant in modern day America as well, except it's done in a more trivial but effective way. People don't openly persecute intellectuals, they are just (with the help of pop culture) reduced to the status of 'geeks' and 'nerds'. This is why I blame the era of the 60's partly, and the music associated with it up until this point; because the 60's was the birth of fame associated with modern telecommunications, the whole world with the benefit of television, radio and now a host of other devices can see what pop culture dictates the ideal person to be like. He or she is not the scientist, or the historian, or the philosopher, but the rock star, the socialite and the film star.

[kingjustin]

I'll back you up on that one. No one likes an intellectual until he/she does something to make life "easier". Or until someone invents a new way to blow something up. That usually garners a fair bit of attention.

[birdgirl73]

I think people dislike intellectuals because they're threatened by them. Intellience is threatening, as is an openness to different ideas, philosophies, and cultures. Intellectualism a different mode of behavior and life than the average TV-watching, non-reading existence, and people who read and think on a deeper level also frequently behave differently, which sets them apart. Intelligence scares a lot of people. So they behave like jerks when confronted with it. Just look at our nation's president, who loves to poke jabs at out nation's so-called intellectual elite every chance he gets. He dislikes people who are smarter than he is because they threaten his simple good vs. evil, with-us-or-against us construct to life and world politics.

[dirty raider]

To my knowledge intellectuals are disliked is for more than just one reason. Often intellectuals are thought of, often wrongly as being pretentious or condescending towards others, this is in part to do with the elitist education system of this country. Because of this a classical education is usually linked with snobbery and elitism.

Possibly people could be jealous either at others intelligence or simply the lack of oppertunitie to recieve such an education. Others simply see intellectual activities as a waste of time with no real practical use. In part I suppose this could be due to a change from a more conservative and right wing to a more socialist or liberal global perspective especially in the west.

I personally prefer to take people on a person to person basis as generalisations whilst sometimes useful are nearly always wrong, ignore the irony.
Just my 2 pence.

[suhl]

i like pot and hate modern art and think music used to be better for the most part. also i dont adore john lennon. what the hell are you talking about dude

[9bob]

dante how much fuckin meth have u smoked today...

anyways, since i have nothing intellectual to say, i will say this:

DANTE YOU CAN SUCK MY BALLS

This made me laugh. :rasta:

Anyway... getting to my point, and it's just the one, I promise:

Descartes used to spend hours a day meditating inside a stove. He must've been smoking something. Admittedly, he wasn't strictly a Classical philosopher, but I'll bet Plato and Aristotle weren't adverse to the odd toke.

Man creates himself. Broaden your mind. 'Tis a plant. Etc.

[Tomorrow Never Knows]

It pretty cool that over a quarter century after he died reactionaries still despise John Lennon. Who has lasted that long. Nobody is like â??That (Jimi Hendrix, or Jerry Garcia or Martin Luther King or Abby Hoffman or Tim Leary or Syd Vicious (sp) or Ozzy Osborne) really brought in some change in perception for society.

Isnâ??t that what life is about? Changing things and being remembered for it.

[Tomorrow Never Knows]

So true, it just boils down to one thing - People, and not necessarily drug users, but people in general, don't seem to like Intellectuals, if you look at History, you'll see it's littered with examples of persecution of intellectuals because people were either scared of jealous of them. The Soviet Union is one example, but anti-intellectualism is also very prevelant in modern day America as well, except it's done in a more trivial but effective way. People don't openly persecute intellectuals, they are just (with the help of pop culture) reduced to the status of 'geeks' and 'nerds'. This is why I blame the era of the 60's partly, and the music associated with it up until this point; because the 60's was the birth of fame associated with modern telecommunications, the whole world with the benefit of television, radio and now a host of other devices can see what pop culture dictates the ideal person to be like. He or she is not the scientist, or the historian, or the philosopher, but the rock star, the socialite and the film star.

You seem a little confused. Your saying that in the 60s â??He or she is not the scientist, or the historian, or the philosopher, but the rock starâ?�, yet you ignore that these lines didnâ??t dissipate only cross.

In the sixties (and beyond to some point) rock stars became philosophers (John Lennon is actually a pretty good example of this) they also became historians, look at all the blues and root rocks influenced players (Clapton, The Band, Flying Burrito Brothers) and ancient Indian music influences (George Harrison, Brian Jones).

At the same time scientists started to become rock stars. More and more people knew James Watson and Francis Crick (who BTW tripped LSD a fair amount), Albert Einstein etc...