To treat something in an excessively intellectual manner.
Yesterday I was told that I was “over intellectualizing” the issue of confirmation bias in my post, In Search Of The Infinite State.
“All you’re really doing is tagging terms to the age old saying ‘stuck in their ways,'” one of the commenters on Facebook said. “Nothing new here. Or exciting really.”
I thought about that for more than a bit, which may or may not be a part of the problem, and have concluded that I’m probably guilty as charged. I’ve also concluded that I don’t care. If I’m going to be accused of something in this age of sound bites and the Twitterization of of complex issues, I’m happy to be on the OVER side of the intellectualization equation.
“Americans no longer talk to each other, they entertain each other. They do not exchange ideas, they exchange images. “― Neil Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business
It still amazes me that Postman’s words were written 30 years before our image-saturated, 140-character-limited social media outlets were created. And, perhaps my point yesterday would have been less “intellectualized” and more viral had I put a short expression on an emotionally charged image and posted it to Instagram. Or pinned a quote to Pinterest. Or perhaps the communication process is benefited by doing all of the above.
Or, maybe I’m just over intellectualizing a stranger’s random comment.
You can be the judge.
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Photo: Some rights reserved by Tambako the Jaguar
You’re just a smarty pants
Thank you? 🙂
Agreed…we are overly entertained by each other, each and every day. There isn’t enough discussion that matters.
Jeff, acting as an appointed judge (in reference to your concluding sentence), I feel grateful for your willingness to dig in and actually survey the way in which we think about technology, business and other life-related matters.
These days, consumption of all varieties has been reduced to fragmented pieces. It’s as though idea exchange was once a bowl of ice cream and is now a handful of Dippin’ Dots—tiny, bite-sized portions one would have to consume in great quantity to satisfy an appetite.
Like you, I say we aim to be on the OVER side of the Intellectualization Equation. Thanks for sharing!
Let’s connect next time I’m in Nashville.