That sounds bold. I am really reserved when using that term. But it got me to thinking: who would I think of as "brilliant" among living intellectuals.
I really enjoy and respect the thoughtfulness of writers like David Brooks and Conor Friedersdorf, but I don't think of them as brilliant.
David Foster Wallace comes to mind (okay, no longer living but still a contemporary intellectual) Same goes for Robert Pirsig, Jonathan Haidt, Daniel Kahneman, Nassim Taleb, Scott Alexander; I still feel I have more to learn about the Weinstein brothers, but probably them.
Neil DeGrasse Tyson and Stephen Hawking are probably brilliant but maybe they just know a lot about a subject I know nothing of.
Neil DeGrasse Tyson and Stephen Hawking are probably brilliant but maybe they just know a lot about a subject I know nothing of.
What about business and technology? Is Elon Musk brilliant? Jeff Bezos? Bill Gates? Or did they have one really great idea/invention?
I feel most comfortable assigning the word to writers. Probably because we have documented access to their thoughts and can confirm their brilliance.
My father-in-law is great at solving riddles and playing chess and would probably score high on tests that measure cognition. But he also gets his news from chain e-mails and thinks Obama is a closet Muslim. So even though he might be "smart," I don't really respect his opinion on most subjects.
In fact, I can think of many people with doctoral degrees or ivy league educations, and I don't respect their opinion either.
So what am I really talking about? I think I'm trying to describe people who are in my [extreme Robert DeNiro voice] Circle of Trust. It's my coterie of people whom I find thoughtful and careful in their analysis of a subject before weighing in on it. As Philip Tetlock would say, more "fox" than "hedgehog."
My father-in-law is great at solving riddles and playing chess and would probably score high on tests that measure cognition. But he also gets his news from chain e-mails and thinks Obama is a closet Muslim. So even though he might be "smart," I don't really respect his opinion on most subjects.
In fact, I can think of many people with doctoral degrees or ivy league educations, and I don't respect their opinion either.
So what am I really talking about? I think I'm trying to describe people who are in my [extreme Robert DeNiro voice] Circle of Trust. It's my coterie of people whom I find thoughtful and careful in their analysis of a subject before weighing in on it. As Philip Tetlock would say, more "fox" than "hedgehog."
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