Anti-anti-intellectualism
Worst. Thesis. Defense. Ever! Don't use a five-dollar word when a 50-cent word will do. - attr Mark Twain I just finished David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest, and I can honestly say, boy was it long. Probably about 500 pages too long. If my take on the book offends you, just wait...I didn't read it. I listened to it as an audiobook . You can start your mumblings about my intellectual bona fides now. After finishing the book, I Googled "Is Infinite Jest overrated?" and encountered a Reddit thread discussing its pros and cons. On balance, I found the arguments in the thread to be strong. There were a few "this is just academic trash" and "you're too stupid to appreciate the complexities of such a unique tome," but otherwise, the discourse was reasonable. I don't want this to turn into a review of the book, but while reading it, it made me think more about my position on intellectualism, anti-intellectualism, and snobbery....
