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Intellectuals and Society
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The influence of intellectuals is not only greater than in previous eras but also takes a very different form from that envisioned by those like Machiavelli and others who have wanted to directly influence rulers. It has not been by shaping the opinions or directing the actions of the holders of power that modern intellectuals have most influenced the course of events, but
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Hardcover, 398 pages
Published
January 1st 2010
by Basic Books (AZ)
(first published December 10th 2009)
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Matt
Yes, and Sowell expands on Hayek and other intellectuals like him.
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What Makes You So Smart?
“There has probably never been an era in history when intellectuals have played a larger role in society than the era in which we live.” True or not, for Sowell this is not a good thing. According to him “An intellectual’s work begins and ends with ideas.” But since ideas are not facts, intellectuals, particularly ‘public’ intellectuals, often speak unintelligently and when those to whom they speak have power, the rest of us suffer.
This widespread lack of intelligence am ...more
“There has probably never been an era in history when intellectuals have played a larger role in society than the era in which we live.” True or not, for Sowell this is not a good thing. According to him “An intellectual’s work begins and ends with ideas.” But since ideas are not facts, intellectuals, particularly ‘public’ intellectuals, often speak unintelligently and when those to whom they speak have power, the rest of us suffer.
This widespread lack of intelligence am ...more

The influence of the establishment political intelligentsia has helped spread many misconceptions about economics, race, history, foreign policy, and justice. Sowell, using empirical evidence and wit, tears down these misconceptions and shows the reader how proposals offered to problems are misguided. Among the notable intellectuals called out in this book are Arthur Schlesinger, John Rawls, Paul Krugman, Noam Chomsky, and John Dewey. I’m glad an updated and revised version of this book was rele
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This is a strange book. It's an intellectual speaking out against his profession. Sowell defines intellectuals as a people for whom ideas are the beginning and ending of their work. Tenured professors are the most ready example, but intellectuals can also be found outside academia. For example authors, commentators and public speakers who are paid to continue producing ideas. The key is that intellectuals need only continue to attract an audience for their ideas in order to remain relevant.
This ...more
This ...more

Though I've read a number of excellent new non-fiction releases in the past couple years, this one beats them all. Not only that, it'll likely be the most fascinating, disturbing, and brilliant thing I read all year.
Sowell lays out a beautifully researched case for his theme of elitist intellectuals in the West constantly attempting to subvert democracy in favor of oligarchy. Sowell defines intellectuals as professionals who live by ideas, whose end product is abstract and often ideological, and ...more
Sowell lays out a beautifully researched case for his theme of elitist intellectuals in the West constantly attempting to subvert democracy in favor of oligarchy. Sowell defines intellectuals as professionals who live by ideas, whose end product is abstract and often ideological, and ...more

the most comprehensive attack on the evangelical left that I've read
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Some people who have reviewed this book negatively either A) have never read it, or B) are uncomfortable with the truths they have discovered. The key to understanding what Thomas Sowell means when he talks about intellectuals is that intellectuals are not simply "thinking people." Intellectuals are people whose *end product* is simply an idea, and this idea is not subject to traditional real-world validation processes, but is subjected to the weaker form of validation known as peer review. Why
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I wish I had a year to comb through this amazing book of selective bias and write a lengthy rebuttal. If you read this book, keep in mind that his arguments are constructs of half-truths and ironically, represents the perfect example of what he calls, "verbal virtuosity". I found this review on Amazon and I'm reposting it here, as I agree with it in its entirety:
In this unbelievable book, Thomas Sowell has produced what must be the most incomplete discussion of modern U.S. History ever written. ...more
In this unbelievable book, Thomas Sowell has produced what must be the most incomplete discussion of modern U.S. History ever written. ...more

The title of this work, and the thrust of its argument, may initially deceive. It is not a critique of the mind or of intellectual pursuits. It is rather a critique of the god-like mentality many intellectuals assume, wreaking social havoc in their arrogant presumption of knowledge. By "intellectuals," Thomas Sowell means those professional thinkers whose end products are ideas, as distinguised from the end products of other professional thinkers like architects or engineers.
Intellectuals and S ...more
Intellectuals and S ...more

This is a fascinating idea: a study upon the nature and influence of intellectuals themselves upon society. What more appropriate group for study than the people dedicated to study? Many people have described the nature of academia, or the processes of research and development in American life, but as far as I know, nobody has turned the spotlight on intellectuals as a group. That lack means that such an analysis is not only warranted, but even needful.
Unfortunately, Sowell fails in this analysi ...more
Unfortunately, Sowell fails in this analysi ...more

In a free society with limited government, individuals make millions of decisions and live with the consequences. As our government has grown bigger and more intrusive, intellectuals have played a major role telling us what programs will work for our own good. However, they are often wrong, but that doesn't stop them. They pay no consequences. Here is the author quoting Eric Hoffer:
"One of the surprising privileges of intellectuals is that they are free to be scandalously asinine without harming ...more
"One of the surprising privileges of intellectuals is that they are free to be scandalously asinine without harming ...more

This recently published book (2010) makes a very thorough case against government action of most any kind, with the exception of war. I spent over an hour looking through Sowell's latest book at Borders. The blurb inside the jacket caught my attention because it mentioned how intellectuals influence our democratic process by shaping the thinking of the electorate, rather than directly persuading elected officials. I saw this as a significant insight into how our system works. I extend the theory
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Brain dead analysis that recommends talk radio and the internet as sources for reaching political truths which will lead to a political party saying COVID is just a flu, people refusing to get vaccinated, claiming black people got to the head of the line for vaccines, believing that climate change is a Chinese hoax, believing that there are good people on both sides as Nazi’s drive their cars into people, and that Trump really did win the election. The MAGA hat morons did not come out of nowhere
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In this book Thomas Sowell launches a withering critique of intellectuals and a range of positions associated with them. He castigates them for ignoring relevant evidence, discussing areas outside their expertise, relying on friendly peers as a substitute for rigour, using dodgy metrics or comparisons and rationalizing their positions for unconvincing reasons. Yet Sowell seems completely unaware of how he himself has written a book rife with these exact shortcomings to an absurd extent. Thomas S
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I have to confess that I find Thomas Sowell fascinating. I read his book “Economic Facts and Fallacies” and I have read many more. I enjoy watching him on “Youtube.” The man has a fantastic mind, he is able to tie real problems and solutions to real outcomes. He does not need to invent, slander or use pejoratives to attack those that disagree. His logic, history, facts and reality prove him right over and over again.
I love this book. I enjoyed every bit of it, and I love how Dr. Sowell ties eve ...more
I love this book. I enjoyed every bit of it, and I love how Dr. Sowell ties eve ...more

This book is so poor that it is hard to keep a straight face when discussing it.
For the better part it sounds like a 'rant' against 'smart people who assume too much' on the part of the author. Mixing wild examples, assumptions and generalizations on the basis of limited experiences, the author vents his frustration.
Just to make it worse the author does not make a critique of intellectuals in general, just of those who are 'liberal', 'left', etc. There are intellectuals, who are bad, and preside ...more
For the better part it sounds like a 'rant' against 'smart people who assume too much' on the part of the author. Mixing wild examples, assumptions and generalizations on the basis of limited experiences, the author vents his frustration.
Just to make it worse the author does not make a critique of intellectuals in general, just of those who are 'liberal', 'left', etc. There are intellectuals, who are bad, and preside ...more

Intellectuals, as defined for this book, are people whose entire trade is in ideas. Not people like engineers or physicists, who have to put the ideas into action and see when they fail.
It's a painful history. The history of rejecting outside evidence -- such as praising the USSR during famine. The imposition of visions that assume that people's mundane and detailed knowledge of their own lives is not relevant next to the ideas of an intellectual who does not know them. The suppression of facts ...more
It's a painful history. The history of rejecting outside evidence -- such as praising the USSR during famine. The imposition of visions that assume that people's mundane and detailed knowledge of their own lives is not relevant next to the ideas of an intellectual who does not know them. The suppression of facts ...more

A terrible and poorly argued book. I didn't know who Sowell was when I picked it up but I certainly won't be reading anything else by him.
A common approach of his is to define a term, make grandiose and universal claims about it, no-true-scotsman any obvious exceptions (he'll often have one word for the "good" version of something and another for the "bad" as if they were fundamentally different things - what's the difference? Apparently, whether or not they agree with his politics), then make a ...more
A common approach of his is to define a term, make grandiose and universal claims about it, no-true-scotsman any obvious exceptions (he'll often have one word for the "good" version of something and another for the "bad" as if they were fundamentally different things - what's the difference? Apparently, whether or not they agree with his politics), then make a ...more

It is always difficult, if not impossible, to foretell what books will still be read generations from now. If I had to bet, I would bet that this book will be among them. I am not sure if I enjoyed it quite as much as the Vision series, but it is close. Dr. Sowell believes it is his most important work. A reader is always a little wiser after having read the works from this great scholar.

"A scientist who filtered out facts contrary to some preferred theory of cancer would be regarded as a disgrace and discredited, while an engineer who filtered out certain facts in building a bridge could be prosecuted for criminal negligence if that bridge collapsed as a result, with people on it.
But those intellectuals whose work has been analogized as “social engineering” face no such liability—in most cases, no liability at all—if their filtering out of known facts leads to social disasters. ...more
But those intellectuals whose work has been analogized as “social engineering” face no such liability—in most cases, no liability at all—if their filtering out of known facts leads to social disasters. ...more

Whenever you pick up a book written by Dr. Thomas Sowell, you are guaranteed a couple of things: It will be well researched and documented and you are definitely gonna learn something!
In the case of Intellectuals and Society by Thomas Sowell you will learn that the influence of intellectuals is not only greater than in previous eras but it also takes a very different form from that envisioned by those like Machiavelli and others who have wanted to directly influence rulers. It has not been by ...more
In the case of Intellectuals and Society by Thomas Sowell you will learn that the influence of intellectuals is not only greater than in previous eras but it also takes a very different form from that envisioned by those like Machiavelli and others who have wanted to directly influence rulers. It has not been by ...more

This is perhaps the finest literary societal critique I have ever read. In a masterful display of powerful analytic thought, well-researched fact, and effectively no bias towards any particular group, Sowell tears into the intellectual foundations of our society and reveals just how cancerous they have become. This book was by no means a simple and quick read. It is incredibly thorough in its background research and it is beautifully written. This is an absolute must read if you are interested i
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Tricky to rate. I'll go with 4/5 because some parts (on class and race) are excellent, including the counter-arguments to the infamous observations on race and IQ in The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life.
Despite too many less-than-stellar chapters, I found this door-stopper worth the time. There seems to be a bit of a mean streak in his writing, but Thomas Sowell is still one of my favorite contemporary thinkers. ...more
Despite too many less-than-stellar chapters, I found this door-stopper worth the time. There seems to be a bit of a mean streak in his writing, but Thomas Sowell is still one of my favorite contemporary thinkers. ...more

Lies My Teacher Told me blows away kids in high school. This book does the same but for college graduates. Holy crap I feel lied to! What an incredible read!
I don't want to pretend like this book is perfect though. Sowell has a much better grasp of how politics, economics, and history are "spun" than he does art or fiction or stories in general. Sowell would greatly benefit from reading Hero With a Thousand Faces, Deschooling Society, and The Romantic Manifesto, among other things. ...more
I don't want to pretend like this book is perfect though. Sowell has a much better grasp of how politics, economics, and history are "spun" than he does art or fiction or stories in general. Sowell would greatly benefit from reading Hero With a Thousand Faces, Deschooling Society, and The Romantic Manifesto, among other things. ...more

Perhaps the most exhaustive and scathing critique of the evangelical left I’ve ever encountered. No, I don’t mean all viewpoints from “the Left” but solely the sect of leftism with a crusading zeal to spread their ideology.
I couldn’t stop reading it and made as many excuses as I could to continue.
This book encompasses a number of Sowell’s other pieces within it broken down into chapters or subsections. This may be his magnum opus regarding his critiquing works.
I couldn’t stop reading it and made as many excuses as I could to continue.
This book encompasses a number of Sowell’s other pieces within it broken down into chapters or subsections. This may be his magnum opus regarding his critiquing works.

I love books that address the problem of "experts" and elitist thinking that filters down to the mainstream. So, I was sure I would love this book. However, the arguments presented by Sowell were so poorly constructed and had such gaping holes, there was no point to finishing this book. The good points were constantly lost and muddied in the mire of bad arguments.
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The basic aspect of this book was a profound one, that experts earn trust by mastering a particular area and also develop the ability to persuade, BUT that they quickly wander from this evidence-based expertise and offer opinions and assumptions that we follow unexamined. This idea is repeated a lot but not fully developed with examples and implications.

Nov 12, 2016
Freddy
marked it as to-read
A friend of mine recommanded this book to me during this 2016 Presidential Election. Given the result is that Trump won, I think I shall recommand the book to all people I know, especially professors, students, media professionals, etc. It's time to rethink something.
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Often times we would look towards those we consider intellectuals for guidance and advice. Or they would attempt to guide us without regard for our thoughts and opinions.
This book shows the foolishness of many intellectual elites who think they know more than cumulative knowledge of the regular “non-intellectual” members of society. And how that belief and elitism made them claim and push certain ideologies on society that end up having more harm than good with no repercussions for those so call ...more
This book shows the foolishness of many intellectual elites who think they know more than cumulative knowledge of the regular “non-intellectual” members of society. And how that belief and elitism made them claim and push certain ideologies on society that end up having more harm than good with no repercussions for those so call ...more
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Thomas Sowell is an American economist, social commentator, and author of dozens of books. He often writes from an economically laissez-faire perspective. He is currently a senior fellow of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. In 1990, he won the Francis Boyer Award, presented by the American Enterprise Institute. In 2002 he was awarded the National Humanities Medal for prolific scholars
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“Intellect is not wisdom.”
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“If facts, logic, and scientific procedures are all just arbitrarily "socially constructed" notions, then all that is left is consensus--more specifically peer consensus, the kind of consensus that matters to adolescents or to many among the intelligentsia.”
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