Posted by Dayuhan

I've actually been accused of anti-intellectualism a few times, on the Journal side. There may be an anti-intellectual culture, but there also seems to be a culture (possibly a minority subculture) that greatly esteems intellectual display... the aforementioned apostles of "Design" might again appear as exhibit A. My own perception is that this subculture at time prioritizes intellectual trappings over intellectual rigor, and the repeated (and strained) invocations of quantum physics and postmodernism occasionally make me want to toss... but maybe I really am anti-intellectual.
Oh I needed to read that, I feel so much better that it just isn't me. Taleb wrote something similar in his book, "The Black Swan." He wrote about a professor that droned on and on about post this and post that and in the end made no particular point, but apparently was quite impressed with himself. I loved the way you framed it, trappings without rigor. Until the design crowd moves past the trappings to the rigor, and in effect get to simplicity on the far side of complexity it will make little progress. They'll blame the institution but in particular case it isn't institutional bias, it is just simply that this dog doesn't hunt in its current form. I attended a week of design training where the instructors were actually able to get to the point quite effectively without masking the meaning in philosophical jargon. I always thought when I retired retired and marijuana is legal it might be fun (or not) to toke on a joint and ponder the philosophical underpinnings of post this and post that and how it applies to design theory. On the other hand, maybe just drinking a cold beer and talking with friends would be more fun?