2007/01/28 New York
Prematurely conservative
Intellectual of sorts
J.M. Coetzee in The New York Review of Books on Mailer’s The Castle in the Forest: “Hitler may not have been much of an artist (he always had trouble with the human figure – a telling weakness), but there is no denying that, at least in his early years, he was an intellectual of sorts. He reads incessantly (though only what he liked), he was interested in ideas (though only in ideas that fitted his preconceptions) and believed in their power, he involved himself in the arts (though his tastes were unshakably provincial and prematurely conservative).”
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Everyone's an intellectual in his own way. I may, or may not, have said this before, but I once did a study.
A study involving the intelligence people believed they had (in comparison with their peers).
Just two persons (who happened to be family (mother and son)) said that they thought that they were less intelligent than anyone in their social group. Others claimed to be 30 up to 80% more intelligent that the others. That means that if we would use the IQ-scale, most broadly used, those people would have IQ's of 130 up till 180 (and even more).
Those two people, by aknowledging their lesser intelligence, show themselves more intelligent (and wise) than the others.
And therefor, every human being is an intellectual.
A study involving the intelligence people believed they had (in comparison with their peers).
Just two persons (who happened to be family (mother and son)) said that they thought that they were less intelligent than anyone in their social group. Others claimed to be 30 up to 80% more intelligent that the others. That means that if we would use the IQ-scale, most broadly used, those people would have IQ's of 130 up till 180 (and even more).
Those two people, by aknowledging their lesser intelligence, show themselves more intelligent (and wise) than the others.
And therefor, every human being is an intellectual.
Good effort of Norman Mailer
The point remains, only the one who had endured some similar experiences like young Adolf (repetitive brutal beatings till the porch of dead, for example) and survived and did not went totally insane, can give testimony of the so called ‘supernatural Evil’, that can finally consume the entire person. Everybody is walking on a thin line beside the ever present abyss below (Evil?) and the abyss above (Good?), not everybody feels it. Adolf Hitler surely knew a lot of it and thousands welcomed his power in a more banal way (from academics to workers).
As the world needs to be saved now, a brand new candidate evidently will emerge.
The point remains, only the one who had endured some similar experiences like young Adolf (repetitive brutal beatings till the porch of dead, for example) and survived and did not went totally insane, can give testimony of the so called ‘supernatural Evil’, that can finally consume the entire person. Everybody is walking on a thin line beside the ever present abyss below (Evil?) and the abyss above (Good?), not everybody feels it. Adolf Hitler surely knew a lot of it and thousands welcomed his power in a more banal way (from academics to workers).
As the world needs to be saved now, a brand new candidate evidently will emerge.
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