Pseudo-intellectuals Pt. 1- Stagnating Thought Progression

Okay, so this is going to be the first in a multi-part series of things that I am feeling regarding the intellectual capacity of our generation and how we can improve certain aspects of it.

So lately, there have been a lot of deeper level conversations/forums/discussions/etc. that have opened my eyes to a variety of mindsets amongst the members of my generation. Many of these individuals are very well read, have studied many different philosophies, and are very articulate in their speech. But I am noticing a trend in the progression of the thought process, and that is that students nowadays are stagnating that progression through what I call pseudo-intellectualism. We do it in many ways, and in part one, I am going to discuss what I call "deifying your elders".

Many of the famous philosophical minds, particularly in Black history and culture, have been revered for their eloquence and sophistication in the evolution of thinking. They were men and women of great mental and conversational prowess, and their legacies have been time-honored contributions to our current methods of thinking. But what I tend to notice is that people in my generation have so much reverence and respect for these icons that we rarely ever challenge anything that they say or espouse. Rather, we often accept their word as law, and treat their words as irrefutable proof of our own arguments. And it shows the most when you see students quote W. E. B. DuBois, or Benjamin Mays, or Martin L. King...and everyone in the audience starts clapping as soon as the quote is finished.

But what did YOU contribute to that rationale that those men espoused? What are YOUR thoughts aside from what they have said? How does this relate to YOUR intellectual development?

This is a major problem to me, because it hits at the very core of what makes academia so great...our ability to agree, disagree, align, and depart with other mentalities, so that we all are making contributions to the whole of the educational and intellectual process. And for the Black community in general, we are trained that way from the jump in many cases. (How many times have you been told not to question your parents, or felt that because mommy said it, it must be true?) It's innate in our upbringing to show respect for those who come before us, but few of us ever toe the line to say, I respect what you say, but I respectfully disagree as well.

I make it a point, nowadays, to try and decipher not only what a person is saying in a text, or in the scripture, or in any body of work, but to understand why that person said it. Maybe the times during which the body of work was written have changed substantially, making it a anachronistic message. Maybe the person lacked a well-rounded view of the situations about which they argued. Maybe they simply saw one point of view, and that there is another new point of view that is relevant now. Either way, I try not to deify my predecessors to the point that I cannot think for myself or express anything that goes against their contributions.

Contribution of our own intellect is valuable to the progression and movement of intellectual development. Each generation must do their part to add to the whole, so that the we do not stagnate the development of these thoughts and ideals. By deifying our elders, and having fear of challenging them because of our respect for them, we essentially miss out on our chance to contribute our own thoughts, and to one day be elevated to the same level of admiration and respect by future generations.