"This major barrier to being an intellectual, historically provided by academia, is almost completely gone."
Wow, what an amazing conclusion. Well said and thanks.
Wow, what an amazing conclusion. Well said and thanks.
It is not lack of access to information ('facts') that is a barrier to being an intellectual. It is a combination of inability/unwillingness to think analytically about information and ideas. IMHO.
I sometime recognize that the discussion is going nowhere because the difference in ethical and principles are too great.
One example of this is the concept of democracy and the idea of popular consent. I am extremely distrustful of human beings, so my political ideology tend to have a strong anti-authoritarian bent.