Face it. Ms. Harf has spent her whole life with people who are "officially" smarter than most people. What "officially smart people" cannot understand, however, is that whatever they think does not have to be true, just because that is what they feel or even think. This misunderstanding unites them and why they prefer to communicate amongst themselves. The "narratives" they develop comfort them and exclude those whom they perceive as less smart.
There is also the question of overly-specialized learning at the expense of . A friend of mine is reputed to be a brilliant physicist. He is a tenured full professor at an Ivy League university. He has no idea how his hot water heater works, and even less understanding of his automobile. He has a very difficult time talking with people he conceives as less smart than he thinks he is.
He is really smart. He has internalized all the "narratives." He is a fervent supporter of Barack Obama and cannot speak with anyone who disagrees.
Your friend, the ‘tenured full professor at an Ivy League university’ must be really lonely. I am convinced he believes there is NO ONE who is as smart as he. Leftists are like that. Oh, and only Conservatives are evil. They are convinced of that, too. And ‘He has no idea how his hot water heater works, and even less understanding of his automobile’. The death of common sense/real world experience has taken it’s toll on Leftists.
I agree with what you’re saying but would replace “smart” with “intelligent” or probably more appropriately, “educated”.
Just because one is educated, doesn’t mean one is actually smart.
A quick example; An F16 pilot (highly educated) is doing his walk around with a brand new 5 level A1C crew chief...is treating the crew chief quite poorly and essentially ignoring him. Crew chief is responsible for condition of the aircraft that pilot is about to strap on...
The pilot may be educated in the ways of flying aircraft, but not very smart in respecting the young man responsible for maintaining said aircraft.
That is a true story and the last statement is what I actually told the pilot in defense of the A1C...
“In fact, if someone less smart than themselves comes up with something, they reason it must not be worth considering. That is why when they develop a “narrative,” to explain a situation to themselves, they cannot be moved off the point.”
I saw this in the Colorado firearms restriction fight. You can make the point over and over that bad guys don’t follow the law. So background checks and magazine bans will have NO effect on murders, crime rates, or school shootings. All are conducted by people who have decided not to obey the law. They don’t buy their Glocks at FFL’s. They buy them on Colfax Ave.
You can go through the point slowly or quickly. You can dress it up in academic fine words or plain talk. It doesn’t matter. When you talk about it, it’s as if you aren’t there.