Much of our conception of intellectuals is mired in the image of the Academic. And while intellectuals which come out of academic circles are important, I think we actually need to push instead for a popular intellectualism which is not just independent of academia, but actively pushes it's obsolescence.<p>There have been scenes, areas and movements of popular intellectualism in the past. The Lower East Side in the 1910's for instance.<p>I think Chomsky is an incredible political analyst and thinker, and I appreciate the work he's done immensely. But I think it's important also to consider how important it is that we do not separate ourselves or others from "The Intellectuals", that we don't acquiesce to a certain academic dilettantism instead of building a culture of intellectualism for ourselves and others.<p>The major steps towards that are to first drop any pretense that intellectualism comes from a specific context, whether academia, the middle classes, white, male, etc. Wholeheartedly adopt, instead, the idea that anybody can <i>and should</i> be encouraged towards intellectualism.<p>In short, replace The Intellectual, with a culture of intellectualism.<p>Secondly, to encourage the importance of facts, the complexity of the world, and infinity of ideas. Intellectualism doesn't thrive when people choose strict ideologies, and argue them stubbornly. Instead, encourage people to accept being wrong, to revel in it, even, and to put their ideas up to scrutiny like a scientist.<p>The internet puts us in an incredible point in history where facts are non-exclusive. We have all the facts we could ever need, and it's gotten easier and easier to locate them. This major barrier to being an intellectual, historically provided by academia, is almost completely gone. It's time we learned how to move forward with the rest of it.