College seems to help reinforce that analytical [or] systematic/systematised = scientific = all there is to be learnt/known. As well as the meritocratic ranking. This underwrites the sort of libertarian, minimalist, reductionist style favoured by techies when discussing non-technical affairs (unsurprisingly, tech stuff itself gets finer consideration since it is the material that they actually work on with their “hands”, rather than just sit around theorising about). A recent example is the spat (in NYRB or LRB) between the brilliant, genial (if precocious) neuroscientist V. S. Ramachandran and the philosopher Colin McGinn. It’s the arriviste/precocious/embarrassing familiarity with unexamined concepts, underwritten by academic pedigree/rank, that, well, rankles, no?
------------ Yes and yes.
J.