Private Intellectual
I have long wondered about this species called “Public Intellectuals”. They appear on TV, write in newspapers (or substack), and post prolifically on places like X. Google’s Gen AI says they are “people who participate in the public-affairs discourse of society” and as likely academics otherwise. Many such people I see aren’t academics, so maybe that is an old idea. But they compulsively participate in the “topic of the day” whether they know anything about it or not (Gell-Mann or carnivas amnesia be damned).
Actually, I call myself a “Private Intellectual” because I have some thoughts on the “topic of the day” on most days, irrespective of whether I know anything about it or not. Just that I am not “Public” about it, it remains “Private” in my head.
When I told this to my wife, she said I can genuinely consider myself one (a private intellectual) since several friends ask for my “opinion” on all and sundry things often, and I offer them my thoughts. Disclosure: My wife has been in captivity for almost 15 years now, and is therefore in a Stockholm syndrome situation of sorts.
Therefore: if I can consider myself one, I think you too can, dear reader. If anyone has ever asked for your opinion on anything — even if it was only your 2-year-old daughter who asked which shoe to wear on which foot — and you had answered it — even if you had chosen the wrong shoe -foot combination — you are a private intellectual too! Welcome to the club.
PS: Writing this post because 3 different friends (from different parts of India) asked for my opinion on Udhayanidhi Stalin’s speech about Sanatana Dharma. Much to their dismay, I wrote a long note on it and shared it over WhatsApp. Wonder why I am not sharing it here? Because I am a “private” intellectual, not a “public” one, you see.
