Yeah I have some people. My favorite is probably David Foster Wallace. I hope his language skills stain on me. Don't know if this is the right term for it ironically. I want to say I hope my language skills improve by studying his literature.
I try to extend my vocabulary. Mainly my German but also English. His knowledge of vocabularies was insane. His humor pleased me a lot. And his writing could comfort me when I was extremely suicidal.
There was a time I was into Slavoj Zizek and Jordan Peterson. But my respect for them decreased. In general I try to be more sceptical on public intellectuals. Many of them don't really focus on science rather pseudo-intellectual content for a mass audience.
There are also some German intellectuals I was into. But they are are kind of frauds. When I realized that they are just wanna-be intellectuals who want to impress the mainstream I am kind of ashamed that I watched so much of their content. One is Richard David Precht. His stances on vaccines and Ukraine are garbage. Most real scientists hate him. They laugh about him. I think I was a fan mainly because he is an advocate for universal basic income and I really wish this could become true. So it rather was an act out of desperation. On the other hand I really was too impressed. He sounds smart and pretends to know a lot.
I think I fall too fast for public intellectuals. Probably due to my obsession to impress other people with intelligence. They are seen as geniuses and are admired by so many people. Though due to the fact they want to reach a mass audience their content is often shallow and dull.
There is a historian with whom I agree on many policies. His name is Timothy Garton Ash. And don't forget Noam Chomsky. He has interesting stances on the media. Though I don't agree with everything.
Maybe it is weird I mostly talk about living people. A dead people I like is for example Franz Kafka, There was a time I really liked Immanuel Kant (the funny fact about him is how German people pronounce his name...). Though his stance on suicide is horrific. One reason I started to dislike him. Tbh when I liked him I barely knew anything about him and just pretended to like him in order to sound smart. Yeah I am pathetic.
I try to extend my vocabulary. Mainly my German but also English. His knowledge of vocabularies was insane. His humor pleased me a lot. And his writing could comfort me when I was extremely suicidal.
There was a time I was into Slavoj Zizek and Jordan Peterson. But my respect for them decreased. In general I try to be more sceptical on public intellectuals. Many of them don't really focus on science rather pseudo-intellectual content for a mass audience.
There are also some German intellectuals I was into. But they are are kind of frauds. When I realized that they are just wanna-be intellectuals who want to impress the mainstream I am kind of ashamed that I watched so much of their content. One is Richard David Precht. His stances on vaccines and Ukraine are garbage. Most real scientists hate him. They laugh about him. I think I was a fan mainly because he is an advocate for universal basic income and I really wish this could become true. So it rather was an act out of desperation. On the other hand I really was too impressed. He sounds smart and pretends to know a lot.
I think I fall too fast for public intellectuals. Probably due to my obsession to impress other people with intelligence. They are seen as geniuses and are admired by so many people. Though due to the fact they want to reach a mass audience their content is often shallow and dull.
There is a historian with whom I agree on many policies. His name is Timothy Garton Ash. And don't forget Noam Chomsky. He has interesting stances on the media. Though I don't agree with everything.
Maybe it is weird I mostly talk about living people. A dead people I like is for example Franz Kafka, There was a time I really liked Immanuel Kant (the funny fact about him is how German people pronounce his name...). Though his stance on suicide is horrific. One reason I started to dislike him. Tbh when I liked him I barely knew anything about him and just pretended to like him in order to sound smart. Yeah I am pathetic.
Last edited:
