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vgr's profile
Venkatesh Rao
Venkatesh Rao
Venkatesh Rao
@vgr

Tweets

Venkatesh Rao

@vgr

This is my conversational account. For my work follow @ribbonfarm, @breaking_smart, @artofgig. Tweets are 90% vacuous views, apathetically held. Mediocritopian.

Los Angeles, CA
venkateshrao.com
Joined August 2007

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    Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 21 Apr 2019
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    If you exclude reading, writing, speaking, and listening (ie use of language, including math or code) as mere table stakes, how would you define “intellectual” in terms of essential non-language behaviors that non-intellectuals typically don’t exhibit?

    4:17 PM - 21 Apr 2019
    • 6 Retweets
    • 67 Likes
    • stupid twitt account Rhys Lindmark Matthew Samuel Sweet Brett Williams in general my name is bob neumal Tony Sam Havens Richard
    61 replies 6 retweets 67 likes
      1. New conversation
      2. Nils Gilman‏ @nils_gilman 22 Apr 2019
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        Replying to @vgr

        I see an intellectual as someone who explicitly places his or her writing and argumentation in dialog with a tradition (meaning: sequence) of other intellectuals who have written on the topics s/he is engaged with — references, in short

        1 reply 1 retweet 7 likes
      3. Nils Gilman‏ @nils_gilman 22 Apr 2019
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        Replying to @nils_gilman @vgr

        Of course, that’s not sufficient. When people think it is, that’s when you get the phenomenon of the poseur or the pseudo-intellectual, who goes through the motions of name-dropping for prestige purposes, but who has little original to add to the tradition.

        1 reply 1 retweet 2 likes
      4. 10 more replies
      1. New conversation
      2. Muller‏ @ErickMullr 21 Apr 2019
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        Replying to @vgr

        I would say that an intellectual identifies inefficiencies and can't help but try to optimize them.

        2 replies 0 retweets 6 likes
      3. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 21 Apr 2019
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        Replying to @ErickMullr

        Yikes

        1 reply 0 retweets 2 likes
      4. 6 more replies
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      2. Brian Sniffen‏ @BrianSniffen 21 Apr 2019
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        Replying to @vgr

        An intellectual computes a function not efficiently computable by a non-intellectual—because of having key state (from canon, grand tour), or computational superiority.

        1 reply 1 retweet 2 likes
      3. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 21 Apr 2019
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        Replying to @BrianSniffen

        Canon = language input. Which leaves your definition resting on grand tour alone (by which I assume you mean actual wide-ranging travel)

        1 reply 1 retweet 0 likes
      4. 8 more replies
      1. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 21 Apr 2019
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        Replying to @RivalVoices

        Symbols is language in a broad sense so this doesn’t quite qualify

        0 replies 1 retweet 2 likes
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      1. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 21 Apr 2019
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        Replying to @context_ing

        That’s language use

        0 replies 0 retweets 0 likes
        Thanks. Twitter will use this to make your timeline better. Undo
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      1. New conversation
      2. Dima‏ @UniqueDima 21 Apr 2019
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        Replying to @vgr

        By the quality of decisions, of course. In the short term, luck plays a large role, but over a longer time span better decisions win. Your question is straight out calling for a poker analogy.

        1 reply 0 retweets 3 likes
      3. Reclusive Wizard‏ @ReclusiveWizard 22 Apr 2019
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        Replying to @UniqueDima @vgr

        That’s where I went. I know someone is an intellectual if they are capable of shame when they play bad and win anyway.

        1 reply 0 retweets 1 like
      4. 6 more replies

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