Does SL Have an Intelligentsia?

[Prokofy Neva]

The word intelligentsia is from the Russian, and Russia itself has nothing but an intelligentsia either fleeing for its life, hiding, or accommodating the war in Ukraine (actually its plight for centuries). So the meaning has changed over the centuries.

But the term is widely used and often discussed, particularly by non-Americans (who think America doesn't have an intelligentsia).

Sometimes it is described as the difference between "those who know" and "those who understand." But an intelligentsia can have scientists as well as poets. Usually they think about their world on a plane above the fray of everyday life and preoccupations and try to draw meaning out of it.

Note: it is not the elite or privileged class or the wealthiest; not the FIC. As in real life, it could involve poor starving artists or people even banned from the forums or who don't post.

If SL doesn't have an intelligentsia, does it need one?

[Akane Nacht]

we're already too smart for our own good.

[Maryanne Solo]

[shireena1]

[Scylla Rhiadra]

3 hours ago, Prokofy Neva said:

The word intelligentsia is from the Russian, and Russia itself has nothing but an intelligentsia either fleeing for its life, hiding, or accommodating the war in Ukraine (actually its plight for centuries). So the meaning has changed over the centuries.

But the term is widely used and often discussed, particularly by non-Americans (who think America doesn't have an intelligentsia).

Sometimes it is described as the difference between "those who know" and "those who understand." But an intelligentsia can have scientists as well as poets. Usually they think about their world on a plane above the fray of everyday life and preoccupations and try to draw meaning out of it.

Note: it is not the elite or privileged class or the wealthiest; not the FIC. As in real life, it could involve poor starving artists or people even banned from the forums or who don't post.

If SL doesn't have an intelligentsia, does it need one?

There are a great many very very bright and thoughtful people in SL, some of whom are using it for some pretty exciting purposes.

But if by "intelligentsia" you mean a network of people who engage with each other as a larger collective body of "thinkers" discussing SL, I think not. We don't have any "public intellectuals" in SL, nor I think have ever had that, mostly because the communications tools in SL are inadequate to the purpose. Vast numbers of people in SL -- 90% or more? -- live their virtual lives without ever visiting any external platforms other than Flickr and SeraphimSL, and who are happily oblivious to any meta-discourse about the virtual world at all. I suppose you might argue that 10 or more years ago, we had a greater critical mass of bloggers talking about the platform, but most of those have disappeared, and there really seems to be very little engagement between those who remain.

But there are, I think, still a fair number of smaller groups in-world who do talk about "issues."

I think it would be a good thing were there more people discussing SL in interesting ways, particularly in the light of the current (poorly informed) public hype about "the Metaverse." But do we need an "intelligentsia," in the sense of a semi-coherent cadre of recognized and acknowledged "thinkers"?

I don't think so. Too often such groups tend to be utterly divorced from the realities of their subject matter (as many SL educators often were, and still sometimes are).

And it's just a teeeeeeeny bit elitist, no?

I'd like to hear more people talk about SL, but I'd like to see such discourse democratized. I don't really want to replicate in virtual form the Athenian academy here.

 

Edited August 17, 2022 by Scylla Rhiadra
Repetition

[Sid Nagy]

Just read the forums.
😇

[Qie Niangao]

1 hour ago, Sid Nagy said:

Just read the forums.
😇

It's jest, but still. Early on, now buried under many strata of forums software, I half-read a thread and posted a reference to a very strange and obscure book I thought tangentially relevant to the topic. A few minutes later, I finally noticed that a page or so earlier somebody had already made the same reference.

Been a forums addict ever since.

(Re the topic of this thread: Do we need an intelligentsia about SL? and things metaversal and virtual worldy? or one that uses SL because it's such a great platform for being intelligentsial? Honestly, either way, maybe not.)

[Seicher Rae]

1 hour ago, Qie Niangao said:

It's jest, but still. Early on, now buried under many strata of forums software, I half-read a thread and posted a reference to a very strange and obscure book I thought tangentially relevant to the topic. A few minutes later, I finally noticed that a page or so earlier somebody had already made the same reference.

 

I loved this story for some reason and am glad you shared it. ETA: I just clicked the link to the book, and yeah... makes the story even more fun. And surprised someone didn't tsk tsk you for repeating what someone had already posted.

However, you have sucked me into posting in this thread, and I'm not sure I'll ever be able to forgive you for it. I shall try.

Edited August 17, 2022 by Seicher Rae

[Seicher Rae]

stupid formatting... deleted

Edited August 17, 2022 by Seicher Rae

[Seicher Rae]

Does SL Have an Intelligentsia? No

If SL doesn't have an intelligentsia, does it need one? No

Does SL have intelligent people? Yes

Does the world, at large, need more critical thinking/thinkers? Hoo mama, yes

"The word intelligentsia is from the Russian" yes and no. The original word is Latin, intelligentia.

"Note: it is not the elite" Note that elite is a common synonym for intelligentsia. Its meaning is somewhat dependent on its context as to whether it includes elite.

There are groups in SL with some variation of this word "intelligentsia" in their titles, and from my (short-lived) experiences with either the groups or their members? Refer to my first answer above.

[Love Zhaoying]

@Prokofy Neva, your definitions are very interesting to me, because many people use "intelligentsia" in a negative context ("those people think they are better than us / smarter / etc.").  A quick Google does not even turn up a negative definition (except when intelligentsia are viewed by others in a negative light). 

Thank you!

From that point of view, with all the dumb-dumbs in Second Life, hell YEAH we need an intelligentsia!  Just don't let them "control" things.

#TIL

 

 

[Anicha Heartsong]

Would genuinely intelligent people want to be part of the intelligentsia? The whole thing seems a little snobby, even pretentious to me, but I'm British and we're neurotically fine-tuned to these things.

But would someone like Albert Einstein have thought of himself as part of the intelligentsia? I suspect he was too humble and grounded, which are themselves markers of intelligence, IMHO.

Then again, I'm dumb as anything so I should probably move right along.

[Seicher Rae]

18 minutes ago, Anicha Heartsong said:

Would genuinely intelligent people want to be part of the intelligentsia? The whole thing seems a little snobby, even pretentious to me, but I'm British and we're neurotically fine-tuned to these things.

But would someone like Albert Einstein have thought of himself as part of the intelligentsia? I suspect he was too humble and grounded, which are themselves markers of intelligence, IMHO.

Then again, I'm dumb as anything so I should probably move right along.

Well... there's Mensa. Which kind of proves your point...

[Rat Luv]

9 hours ago, Maryanne Solo said:

How do you do this?? 😍

[Nalates Urriah]

...and the search for intelligent life has yet to succeed. Lets wait to start the search for an intelligentsia within the group until we find living intelligence.

[Love Zhaoying]

I propose, that any groups who are "self-described" as "we are smart!" should be excluded from being "true" intelligentsia. 

For example: I've known plenty of really dumb people who were in MENSA (or claimed to be). 

("But I'm a member of MENSA! RESPECT ME!!1!1!")

[Madelaine McMasters]

Since I'm most of the people in SL, I've got a big say in whether there is an intelligentsia or not.

I ain't sayin'.

[Love Zhaoying]

1 minute ago, Madelaine McMasters said:

Since I'm most of the people in SL, I've got a big say in whether there is an intelligentsia or not.

I ain't sayin'.

As Legion, you're pretty smart.  But that takes all of us/you working together/separately!

[Madelaine McMasters]

Regarding Mensa, my parents and I all qualified when I was young. I wanted to join but they demurred. I no longer wish to join.

I wonder of Mensa membership means what we think it means. I wonder if declining membership means what we think it means.

Edited August 17, 2022 by Madelaine McMasters
Not only do I no longer wish to join, but my spelling and grammer would make them no longer likely to accept me.

[Love Zhaoying]

4 minutes ago, Madelaine McMasters said:

Regarding Mensa, my parents and I all qualified when I was young. I wanted to join but they demurred. I no longer wish to join.

I wonder of Mensa membership means what we think it means. I wonder if declining membership thinks what we think it means.

I assume it's really all about the individuals.

[Orwar]

4 hours ago, Seicher Rae said:

Does the world, at large, need more critical thinking/thinkers? Hoo mama, yes

   I think the world is quite well-equipped with intelligent folks who do good in a wide variety of ways for 'the arts' and humanity in general.

   That we then have a few billion morons roaming the globe just makes them a bit difficult to hear over the noise of <insert dumb things people believe in/are doing this particular week via the incredible communication tool that is the Internet>. 

[Seicher Rae]

26 minutes ago, Madelaine McMasters said:

Regarding Mensa, my parents and I all qualified when I was young. I wanted to join but they demurred. I no longer wish to join.

I wonder of Mensa membership means what we think it means. I wonder if declining membership means what we think it means.

Ditto, including your edited notes

[Seicher Rae]

1 minute ago, Seicher Rae said:

Ditto, including your edited notes

Kinda like I have thought about applying to Daughters of Am. Revolution and citing Benedict Arnold as a direct ancestor. (tis true)   I decided, "Nah..." (but it still makes me laugh)

[Rowan Amore]

Claiming to be part of the SL Intelligentsia, to me, is like claiming to be an SL P*rnstar.  (which means nothing, just sayin')

[Rolig Loon]

34 minutes ago, Madelaine McMasters said:

Regarding Mensa, my parents and I all qualified when I was young. I wanted to join but they demurred. I no longer wish to join.

I wonder of Mensa membership means what we think it means.

As I recall, membership involves getting "acceptable" scores on a battery of IQ tests, like Stanford-Binet. They are selecting for a particular kind of intelligence. Among other things, they look for people who handle standard tests well. That's as good a way of managing membership as any, I suppose, but it's not a universal way of defining "smart".

I can't help watching my mind drift to Groucho Marx: