@.politicallyspeaking: this IS NOT me saying don’t learn about theories and complex ideas, but there’s a time and place for them ygm. #leftwing #opinion #debate #politics #intellectualism

devmuchh :

a sign of intelligence is effective communication: being able to communicate complex things with simple language. people confuse this and try to seem intelligent by explaining simple things complexly

professorofcats :

When I see people who are chronically online and try to out-woke each other, I think about how classist they often are. We have to give each other more grace. The average working class person who is working every hour God sends as the saying goes does not have time to be sat reading up on theories and the current best accepted language terminologies.

Tom Lewis :

If someone can’t explain something in plain language, It makes me think they’re parroting someone else’s opinion

lucas :

as a grammar lover, nothing annoys me more than people misusing the word "empathy" when they mean compassion or sympathy

baiter master :

as someone more right leaning and working class this is literally what i’ve been thinking for years, they alienate people like me by being such moralist weirdos that like you said just throw around words and concepts to deliberately make you look stupid for not knowing it because you have better things to be doing.

moobo :

I actually disagree. It's anti intellectualism. I don't think the pretentious people often really understand the concepts and rely on pretentious truisms. I think that's why there's so much purity testing, they don't understand their own ideas

hancoco_ :

just to piggy back off this - they can be SO patronising and sarcastic with it too. Why has it become normal to be like "Hope this helps" "lmao" or the classic spelling/grammar correction after spending 4 paragraphs over explaining a simple concept. They speak like they are an absolute authority on the subject and are 100% right about everything - but then expect the person they're talking to be open to THEIR views 🙃

Joey Thompson :

I'm pretty centre and so can sway from left to right depending on the issue at hand. I would say that a lot of the people on the left aren't using "big words" because they see it as an opportunity to educate people on the right. I would say a large proportion of the left do it because they get off on feeling morally and intellectually superior. A lot of the leftists that do this are middle class or have adopted a middle class attitude once going to uni. I have seen many a middle class person on the left "educating" a working class person who is more to the right and at the root of it in many cases is classism and moral grandstanding. I don't think a lot of the modern left actually give a shit about whatever injustice they are fighting for that week, it's the feeling of intellectual power and moral superiority that that fight gives them personally that they really care about.

Will :

I remember my dad said growing up the most intelligent way to explain something is in the way it will be understood easiest by the most people.

jojoisassbro :

At a certain point we have to let this criticism go. Left this ideologies were made by philosopher, economist, and highly educated people. If you’re looking for easily digestible ideology I suggest you go further right…… where base human instinct around territory and power are the replacement for big words

a4stro2 :

yes! I always considered it an insult to be called an intellectual. Thinker, scientist... yes. Intellectual -- absolutely not: intellectuals are primarily Elite, and "The Elite" is the real problem, whatever problem you consider.

DefinitelyNotMe :

I work a lot. I still have time to think.

Mark Welburn :

Just a thought. Maybe those on the right just want simple things. There isn't a need to make it a battle of intellects

Sam :

this is 100% the difference between online and real life. in real life you can easily have a normal, healthy conversation and have a drink afterwards. online it’s just a shouting match

Nadeem :

Exactly people don’t realise the average normie doesn’t have the time nor the care to know all this stuff!! It’s a skill being able to take a nuanced concept and explain it in a way that is understandable for the average person who isn’t well versed on it !

Tom :

Nothing worse than this. My favourite type of conversation to have is one where I leave knowing I’ve learnt something, when someone is condescending, or rude or trying to make you confused on purpose it’s hard to leave a conversation feeling that way

Luke 🎭 :

🏆 This is for you, 15 years of fighting for the left and it’s turned into something I don’t recognise and I now argue with them more than I argue with the right, I hope you replace the current larger voices on the left.

Inky🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸 :

I’m a fresher studying Acting and went to a student left meeting a few days ago. One of the worst experiences ever, all these academic students who could very clearly see I didn’t understand niche political theory throwing word salad at me to make me feel stupid.

connor :

Walyd :

Okay but sometimes they say soup brain things though, i can't with these post-truth anti-intellectual discussions

Shaun🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 :

Completely agree, I've been involved organising in left wing spaces for years and my voice have been shut down so many times because I know less "theory" to the point I gave up with it

666maedae :

the problem we face now. the intellectual class wants too demean and make the working class who know less feel dumb and bad because they racist, sexist, greedy... when if we really want a revolution, or just too change minds... we need too speak too them on their level in a way they understand. it shouldn't feel like a emotional injury for them to hear what we have to say. we need to speak too them in a way they'll agree. and we dont even need agree in evey discussion on every point. "the country really has gone to the dogs hasnt it, the rich keep getting richer while we fight about stuff that doesn't matter. you might not like gay marriage, but if we keep arguing about that, they'll keep picking your pocket and raising priced while we're distracted" call that pragmatism. if we want a better society, we need to see the bigger picture and how people see us

Felix :

Speaking as someone who has broadly working class relatives from like the bottom of the income bracket up to the upper middle, I think this all comes down to how you are conversing. It’s totally fine to have intelligent, wordy conversations as long as it’s in good faith and not with the pure intent of making people feel small. I’d argue removing those long winded explanations from conversations with people on the right on the whole is insulting to their intelligence in itself, as it assumes that just because somebody is on the right or is working class they’re unable to learn or don’t already know about this sort of thing. At the end of the day its horses for courses, y’know? You gotta tailor your discussion to the person, not block out long words and key thinkers entirely.

samuel :

I think this applies to people who have absorbed their parents political beliefs. We see the same issue on the right. There is no desire for one side to listen to the other, when it’s much easier to just speak into the echo-chamber of your own household.

MR. O :

Hmm. For me it's not so much the alleged "intellectualism", it's the fact that 1. They seldom truly understand the information themselves, enough to actually communicate on a sincere intellectual level. They usually only reference to support ideology. 2. They have no clue or ignore other information. So they have not nearly enough to make solid values, or at best can't really understand how their ideas fit into everything else.