A List of Public Intellectuals - Do public intellectuals matter?
Here is a decent list of top public intellectuals from around the world compiled for 2014. Have you read anything by any of these authors? How many of the names on the list would you recognize at a pub quiz?
FP Top 100 Global Thinkers
I've read works by all of them, but I haven't read all of their works (of course). What I find interesting is who isn't on the list - many brilliant thinkers no doubt. "Radicals" are not on the list for sure. Chris Hedges wouldn't be on the list, he's too much of a gadfly. People trying to make it in the current system have no other option but to moderate their criticisms in favor of good development and analytics of data, with profound insights thrown in no doubt. (No, Chomsky is not a radical.)
Thomas Piketty
The second link has Russell Brand on it - he's a "brand" for sure, but really? I'd rather see Jon Stewart, or John Oliver on the list - if we have to go there. No one can tell me that those guys aren't thinkers, but we need to have some background knowledge of their domain of expertise before we put too much stock in their insights and opinions. I'm a big fan of all three of them. I don't listen to Rush Limbaugh. I get a headache listening to him for some reason. But of course, Rush would never be considered for a list of public intellectuals. He's number one on the list of public blowhards though.
This list is from PROSPECT "The Leading Magazine of Ideas". Perhaps.
World thinkers 2015: the results
What do you think? Are thinkers appreciated by large numbers of people across nations in 2015? What do you reckon the percentage of the global population is concerned with what "thinkers" think is?
Paul Ekman
Perhaps many of us think thinking is simply being a good audience for the market of "ideas".
Now go have some fun with Jon Stewart and John Oliver.
This video is a really good mashup of Jon Stewart taking on mainstream media:
