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[Neonivek]

Give me an example of each; Who(in terms of well known figures) is an intellectual and who is a "pseudo".
I ain't sure if I am going anywhere with this yet, but drop me some names.

Isn't Brian from Family guy supposed to be a Pseudo-intellectual?

Or just about any side-smart character from King of the Hill?

[Kay12]

Well he's actually quite intelligent, so I'd say he's more like an actual but exaggerating intellectual...

(we're talking about the baby right?)

[Neonivek]

Well he's actually quite intelligent, so I'd say he's more like an actual but exaggerating intellectual...

(we're talking about the baby right?)

No the dog... Brian the Dog.

[Kay12]

Oh... been a while since I actually watched family guy. Can't remember the dog's habits that much...

But there's no really clear distinction, I think. People who are actually intelligent may be branded as pseudo-intellectuals for having different (or too strong) opinions, being "too smart", etc...

[ChairmanPoo]

I think it's quite different to have a proper level of understanding of a subject and to have a smattering of high school science class data plus a collection of factoids from pop science magazines of varying size. It's not just a matter of quantity, but also of understanding, and on being aware of how much one knows (or not) and how to increase that knowledge critically. Moreover, I think that it also makes people aware of how much they don't know about other fields.

I think this relates to the subject at hand because, imo, a pseudointellectual would be someone who not only was ignorant about a subject, but was also ignorant of how little he actually knows, combined with an insistence to lecture

[nenjin]

I think Peggy Hill from King of the Hill is a pretty good description of a pseudo-intellectual. Is convinced she's a master of Spanish even though her pronunciation and comprehension are terrible, because she only teaches introductory Spanish.

[Neonivek]

I think Peggy Hill from King of the Hill is a pretty good description of a pseudo-intellectual. Is convinced she's a master of Spanish even though her pronunciation and comprehension are terrible, because she only teaches introductory Spanish.

While she does flaunt that she is a great knower of spanish

I never really see her actually flaunt her terrible spanish very often.

Which I think would be a distinct difference.

Someone who says they know a lot of medical information but doesn't show it wouldn't be to me a Pseudo-doctor (he would just be: Not a doctor)

A person who quotes internet diagnosis as if it was his own personal observations... would probably get there.

[Reelyanoob]

There may be many interpretations of real vs pseudo, here's one (sample) opinion i googled at random:

http://subversivethinking.blogspot.com/2010/06/distinctions-between-intellectuals-and.html

This guy has some obvious bias himself though, but is a different take on the concept.

[Grakelin]

Brian gets accused of it all the time, but he's also quite intelligent and enjoys reading from scholarly sources. I don't think his apparent social awareness is the only prerequisite for being a pseudointellectual. He's just a pedant.

While typing in "pseudo intellectual + example" in google, I found an amusing article: http://thehands.hubpages.com/hub/The-Types-of-Pseudo-Intellectuals-Youll-Meet-in-College



Peggy Hill flaunts her self proclaimed intelligence constantly. It was a running joke on the series, which bubbled over at one point where she asked Hank "HANK! What if I'm not as smart as I think I am!" Whenever they meet Spanish people, she usually corrects them when they talk. In one episode, where she gets a job at a call centre, she complains that the people on the phone speak terrible Spanish (she takes calls from Mexico). After she gets a scam Master's Degree, she brags to everybody she can about it. In several episodes, she gets upset because something she is good at is shared by a mentally challenged man and she doesn't want to be associated with him.

She encapsulates pseudo intellectual.


SOURCE: The complete series of King of the Hill. Best cartoon ever.

[PsyberianHusky]

There may be many interpretations of real vs pseudo, here's one (sample) opinion i googled at random:

http://subversivethinking.blogspot.com/2010/06/distinctions-between-intellectuals-and.html

Have I learned to be a good psudointellectual by learning to ask the right questions?

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Real-talk I think that brings up good points, but I also feel it is a bit preachy.
Thanks for linking this blog, I am not sure how I feel about this guy but he has some interesting opinions.

[Zangi]

I believe I've done my fair share of psuedointellecting as a younger brat. 

But then, I've also done my fair share of knowing useless information that most people don't care to know to because I wanted to know that much about it.  Its like an obsession thing.
History was so much more interesting when you try to look at the detail of things... unlike the 1-2 paragraph blurbs about events you get in 'history class'.  Just too bad that interest was never fostered.

I believe the Naruto manga and a good bit of the anime was the peak of my know-it-all... the before the whole Shippuden thing.  I suppose it 'helped' that I was one of the people running an RP community for it...
I don't know if it would fall under psuedo or actual intellecting...  I was damn well obsessed with the show and I was also expected to put that knowledge of the show to use...

[KaelGotDwarves]

A pseudo-intellectual is simply someone who is not a real intellectual.

They tend to be a wannabe intellectual that is concerned more with catagorising people, judging people, and appearing smarter than other people in intellectual hierarchies than furthering their own intellect just for the sake of knowledge and wisdom.

A psuedo-intellectual typically engages in mind-masturbatory excercises that serve hardly any purpose than to stroke their own intellectual erogenous zones for the sake of their personal, fragile ego.

A psuedo-intellectual may have knowledge of things, but generally lack the knowledge of practical applications to their own life and others'- or wisdom.

The classic case is one of special individuals who argue for enforcing extremist ideologue paradises that impact all of society while their own personal life is a bloody mess. In other words, hypocrites.

They also don't like admiting to themselves that they are psuedo-intellectuals, or that they may not know something.

[Max White]

I believe the Naruto manga and a good bit of the anime was the peak of my know-it-all... the before the whole Shippuden thing.  I suppose it 'helped' that I was one of the people running an RP community for it...

Pseudointellectual tell number 57: Believes anime is an accurate representation of anything.
Pseudointellectual tell number 58: Believes they know everything about the difference between an  intellectual and a pseudointellectual.
Pseudointellectual tell number 60: Self parody.
Pseudointellectual tell number 61: Parodies of self parody.
Pseudointellectual tell number 62: Causes parody paradoxes.
Pseudointellectual tell number 63: Uses the word 'paradox'.
Pseudointellectual tell number 64: What happened to 59?

[Vector]

I will now refer everyone to Baudrillard's Simulacra and Simulation.  You have all lost the argument.

Good night =)

[PsyberianHusky]

Dang it, I hate losing, on the internet.