How to live an intellectual life | Zena Hitz | Big Think

How to live an intellectual life, with Zena Hitz
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When you picture an intellectual, who do you see? Professor Zena Hitz says that somewhere along the way, the idea of what an intellectual is and does became distorted.
"The real thing is something more extraordinary but also more available to us," Hitz adds, differentiating between an intellectual life constantly in pursuit of something else, and one that enjoys ordinary activities like reading and thinking.
An example is young Albert Einstein, who spoke highly of his time working in a patent office and hatching "beautiful ideas" long before becoming a famous physicist.
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ZENA HITZ:
Zena Hitz is a Tutor at St. John's College in Annapolis, Maryland and the author of "Lost In Thought: The Hidden Pleasures of an Intellectual Life." She has a PhD in ancient philosophy from Princeton University and studies and teaches across the liberal arts.
Check Zena Hitz's new book titled "Lost in Thought: The Hidden Pleasures of an Intellectual Life" at amzn.to/2TsYCeN
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TRANSCRIPT:
ZENA HITZ: We're kind of enchanted by a mystique, a sort of Hollywood picture of an intellectual. That film "A Beautiful Mind" is a perfect example. You have this mathematician, he's a genius. He sees things no one else can see. He's in a class apart. He's not like you and me. And I think that that's a distortion of what an intellectual really is. Whereas the real thing is something more extraordinary but also more available to us.
Hi, I'm Zena Hitz. I'm a college professor. I teach at St. John's College in Annapolis, and the title of my book is "Lost in Thought: The Hidden Pleasures of an Intellectual Life." I was a very successful academic for a time, looked to be at the beginning of a very accomplished career and it felt somehow off to me. I had a kind of an early midlife crisis. Quit the profession entirely and lived in a monastery, a Catholic religious community. I wanted to figure out what intellectual life really was. What is this practice of reading and studying and thinking?
Aristotle is a philosopher who I've studied a lot and spent some time with. He thought there was a danger of our lives becoming totally focused on these telic activities, acting as a means to an end. And the way he puts it is: Work is for the sake of leisure, not the other way around. We have a tendency to get locked into this mode where we're acting for the sake of something else without ever getting the something else. So part of what my work is trying to do is to ask people to reflect on what the something else is. What's the thing that all of your busy-ness and all your activity is really for? What are the moments that really matter to you? Where you feel like this is the point, this is why I'm doing what I'm doing. Without those things, our lives I think are pointless. What interests me is an intellectual life that's not acquisitive, that's not trying to get anything else but just wants to be doing what it's doing. It looks like things that are really pretty ordinary to most of us: reading, thinking, speculating about people's motivations in life, what makes people tick. Bird-watching, walking in nature. It's something that belongs to you in a certain way that's private. It's a part of yourself that really in principle no one has access to.
Someone like Albert Einstein who has that huge profile who has the mystique of the genius, who has the puffy hair. But if you think of him as a young man in his late '20s with a wife and a kid and no job, because he's too weird and he's too disrespectful with authority. He can't get work. And he has this job in a patent office. He's a bureaucrat. And he thinks about things. He looks at the clock tower. He looks at trains going by and he starts to really have insights into the way the world is. And he calls, in a letter he writes later in life, he calls the patent office, "the worldly cloister where he hatched all his most beautiful ideas." And it's where he wrote these three 1905 papers which were totally transformative for physics. Despite being denied a place in the world that he aspired to, he was able to find this space where he could be who he was and think about what he wanted to. For some time we haven't been accustomed to thinking that way about learning or about intellectual life. That it's something which has to do with the attitude of the individual to what they're doing...
To read the full transcript, please visit bigthink.com/series/the-big-t...

Пікірлер: 907

  • @bigthink
    @bigthink3 жыл бұрын

    What makes someone an intellectual?

  • @Tshego2000

    @Tshego2000

    3 жыл бұрын

    Life long learning.

  • @a.randomjack6661

    @a.randomjack6661

    3 жыл бұрын

    Besides reading, listening to Wes Cecil is a great start. But so is listening to Sapolsky, Susskin, AronRa and many others. It would never come to my mind to go to a monastery, I go to Nature, I avoid religions and other make beliefs.

  • @nitin9922

    @nitin9922

    3 жыл бұрын

    Not being a bigot

  • @nasserhund5626

    @nasserhund5626

    3 жыл бұрын

    The positive extension of the thoughts of others. Surely that is why others recognize your intellect. And sometimes... they call you an intellectual. Sometimes they dont even unterstand why you even just said, what you said... and everyone is confused. Both is very nice.

  • @MarshallMathersthe7th

    @MarshallMathersthe7th

    3 жыл бұрын

    Having both high IQ and EQ, someone who knows alot on many subject. I happen to know an intellectual, he is specialized in cultural antropology and english (business) writing. Knows alot about history, culture and human behavior (basically what cultural antrapology means). I say i know, but i THINK he is an intellectual. I myself am not, i have low IQ so i cannot judge that.

  • @amanmann1705
    @amanmann17052 жыл бұрын

    "An intellectual is someone whose mind watches itself" ~ Albert Camus

  • @maiyenish8552

    @maiyenish8552

    2 жыл бұрын

    Jordan Peterson must have read some of his writings.

  • @maiyenish8552

    @maiyenish8552

    2 жыл бұрын

    @Big Thìnk Trying to spoof this youtube channel? Your youtube account is only a few days old!

  • @Marzaries

    @Marzaries

    2 жыл бұрын

    How does a mind watch itself?

  • @mediatechjohn3088

    @mediatechjohn3088

    2 жыл бұрын

    That's just being aware

  • @maiyenish8552

    @maiyenish8552

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@Marzaries Using an EEG?

  • @a.randomjack6661
    @a.randomjack66613 жыл бұрын

    "We know so little about intelligence, that we can't even imagine what an intelligent person would do in our place"

  • @sharkardschuyler7007

    @sharkardschuyler7007

    3 жыл бұрын

    He would probably have done the same thing you are doing...

  • @goblinslayer6375

    @goblinslayer6375

    2 жыл бұрын

    He is me

  • @artamrein9276

    @artamrein9276

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@goblinslayer6375 a guy that slays goblin all day is surely an intelligent man

  • @silano360

    @silano360

    2 жыл бұрын

    If you could simulate the intelligent person then you are just as intelligent, because otherwise you weren't able to simulate :D

  • @191.

    @191.

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@sharkardschuyler7007 Sometimes, maybe something even more stupid. 😆

  • @keerthi1346
    @keerthi13463 жыл бұрын

    "We can always become more human." that made my day :))

  • @frederikchristoffersen6353

    @frederikchristoffersen6353

    2 жыл бұрын

    is that to abandon work as a goal?

  • @egidijus6973

    @egidijus6973

    Жыл бұрын

    A good start would be to stop killing and eating innocent animals.

  • @ChillButFunny

    @ChillButFunny

    3 ай бұрын

    @@egidijus6973 OH MA GAH VEGEN SPOTTED

  • @11dsky78
    @11dsky783 жыл бұрын

    Very interesting. This topic needs a full an hour podcast.

  • @chito4523

    @chito4523

    2 жыл бұрын

    Agree!!

  • @ZiCK_616

    @ZiCK_616

    2 жыл бұрын

    Yes I agree

  • @Archangel125

    @Archangel125

    2 жыл бұрын

    Well, you know, she wrote a book about it. You could read that.

  • @jayceladkins7721

    @jayceladkins7721

    2 жыл бұрын

    Hope to see more videos, there are many podcasts with her as a guest. Many. 😊🙏

  • @erfho8y

    @erfho8y

    2 жыл бұрын

    Very strongly agree!

  • @toddsmith5715
    @toddsmith57153 жыл бұрын

    Her message is really very simple. As a natural introvert whose mind has always frothed over with curiosity, her remarks have pretty much described my life. I think they can also be combined rather simply and elegantly with R.G. Collingwood's "knowledge for its own sake" idea, that knowledge and understanding have an intrinsic value and do not have to be considered as means to some material end. Not a bad way to live, really.

  • @Korwinexile

    @Korwinexile

    3 жыл бұрын

    Same here. Chronic knowledge collector. Why do I do this, if I do not parlay this into money? I have a profession - I could practice law, I just don't want to. I want to learn - everything... Why?

  • @CJ0101

    @CJ0101

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@Korwinexile You would like to feel safe and in control.

  • @1DangerMouse1

    @1DangerMouse1

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@CJ0101 okay belittling psychoanalyst

  • @CJ0101

    @CJ0101

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@1DangerMouse1 A bit defensive are we?

  • @jessicamore4371

    @jessicamore4371

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@Korwinexile what is your Myers Briggs? INTP?

  • @THEBATMAN28AHH
    @THEBATMAN28AHH2 жыл бұрын

    I've always heard that thinking that life is pointless or meaningless is a dangerous thing. However, in my personal experience, the more pointless something is, the more drive I feel. The more compelled I am to make something from nothing. I'd rather there be no meaning, so that I could create meaning for myself. I don't like the idea of there being an ultimate "point." That just sounds like boundaries you'll never actually see with your own eyes.

  • @Spudderr

    @Spudderr

    2 жыл бұрын

    Couldn’t have said it better

  • @commentcritic7759

    @commentcritic7759

    2 жыл бұрын

    i agree with you but not on that path ive accepted that theres no destination after death, and everyone will forget me, and that im probably just an algorhythm made out of cells, that strive to live up to the energy that was given by the sun but, i still live my life, and im counscious, I might as well just make myself happy while it lasts

  • @THEBATMAN28AHH

    @THEBATMAN28AHH

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@commentcritic7759 that's an interesting take, I guess I just don't think about it that much. I just graduated with my Bs in Psy and my focus was mainly Biopsych and Neuro, and of all the things I learned about the brain, what it's made of, and how it works, it really took the ghost out of the machine. My focus now is just doing what makes me happy, even if that something is absolutely nothing sometimes.

  • @LucasSantos-me6fl

    @LucasSantos-me6fl

    2 жыл бұрын

    And that's life mate! Spot on!

  • @facundoalvarado9

    @facundoalvarado9

    2 жыл бұрын

    my boy the existentialist haha

  • @vnaykmar7
    @vnaykmar72 жыл бұрын

    "You have this FREEDOM within yourself, this DEPTH and RESOURCES within yourself that no one can touch."

  • @bountyhunter6180
    @bountyhunter61802 жыл бұрын

    "There is much pleasure to be gained from useless knowledge" Bertrand Russell ✌️✌️✌️✌️✌️

  • @someone1059

    @someone1059

    2 жыл бұрын

    he was the very definition of an intellectual

  • @dannysze8183

    @dannysze8183

    2 жыл бұрын

    true🥰

  • @calisto7258

    @calisto7258

    2 жыл бұрын

    SOOO TRUEEEEEE

  • @theboombody

    @theboombody

    2 жыл бұрын

    Nothing more useless than the barber paradox, so that's fitting.

  • @Shivammishra98643

    @Shivammishra98643

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@ccriztoff the formulas for genral relativity was formulated by him. There was no other person who had taught of space and time being the same thing. Apart from hillbert whose model was unsuccessful. According to your logic most of the mathematicians that are born since now are fraud. They all co-operate with each other their work depends on some one else's work who came before them. Pls elaborate what you're trying to say.

  • @truthspace5525
    @truthspace55252 жыл бұрын

    An intellectual and a genius are two separate things. An intellectual pursues knowledge and the wisdom to utilize it. A genius has an innate ability with abstracts. It's when you combine genius with intellectualism, you create knowledge. All knowledge starts with the ability to perceive abstracts.

  • @user-jg4ns7pn6c
    @user-jg4ns7pn6c2 жыл бұрын

    Intellectual means having extensive knowledge on most of the things which makes you realize how tiny you are in this grand world but also knowing your intellect could change the whole world.

  • @shantanu9404

    @shantanu9404

    2 жыл бұрын

    That's incorrect. Harboring and accumulating extensive knowledge doesn't transform a person into an intellectual. The very definition of intellect is to develop intelligent and rational thoughts based on the information presented to you. So knowledge can be perceived as a medium to the path of intellect, but not the key to intellect.

  • @killraven123
    @killraven1232 жыл бұрын

    "Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know" - Ernest Hemingway

  • @yehor_ivanov

    @yehor_ivanov

    2 жыл бұрын

    maybe he just didn't know much of people both happy and intelligent)

  • @SourovKabirII

    @SourovKabirII

    2 жыл бұрын

    his happiness is fisherman standard.

  • @VivianixonArts

    @VivianixonArts

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@yehor_ivanov i think he's talking about high IQ which is usually very mind-consuming for most

  • @johnmark8583

    @johnmark8583

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@yehor_ivanov Don't worry,I'll agree with you👍😊☝️🔥

  • @urimtefiki226

    @urimtefiki226

    2 жыл бұрын

    I am intelligent and I am happy, a week ago there was a bee trapped in the spider's net and I removed that bee with a gentle push which was pending in that net moving like a mattress. When I remember that moment makes me happy. One more thing try to make a trap to a person with high intelligence you will see what will happen, never try to outsmart intelligent people or enslave them because he lives by his own standards and laws. Insults interruptions making unnecessary moves will distract him from intellectual work. Trying to make him nervous with your childish behavior is not going to work because he can read your mind and can see much deeper than you think. I am happy that after my hard work I returned to my normal life, and never again now is your turn to go there and we will see what your creativity will be and if you can return yourself to normal life. Sitting with your laptop and provoking is easy but focusing and thinking is very difficult.

  • @aerodylluk2543
    @aerodylluk25433 жыл бұрын

    The only way to live an intellectual life is to ask questions and seek answers.

  • @truthforyouth1995

    @truthforyouth1995

    2 жыл бұрын

    One must be humble in asking questions and persevering in seeking answers.

  • @catriona_drummond

    @catriona_drummond

    2 жыл бұрын

    Actually not. We all do that, even children. Being intellectual however, is seeking questions and questioning answers. That's what Einstein did. He asked a new question: "Is time really absolute?" and he questioned Newtons answers to physics.

  • @truthforyouth1995

    @truthforyouth1995

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@catriona_drummond But doesn't questioning, fall under the line of questioning answers? Even if you question answers, it's only because you are in doubt that it is the right one. So you're still seeking answers, by simply asking a question whether it's based on an answer or without answer.

  • @okamisensei7270

    @okamisensei7270

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@truthforyouth1995 It's not doubting that it's wrong. It's keeping an open mind and accepting that uncertainty and room for improvement exist everywhere.

  • @chito4523
    @chito45232 жыл бұрын

    This actually came out in time!! I'm going through a tough time at school and feel sad at anywhere I look. I haven't really trusted my seft. Thank you a lot for this video which remind me of the orginal meaning of all these study is for searching a meaningful life, not making me feel so sick whenever I catch myself think about how bad I was, why I couldn't achieve a higher goal as I expected, .... Believe in my own time line. I trust the process, and the unfolding future. You can't judge exact what right or wrong at the present, so what is the point of self-doubt? P/s: Alwasys love watching your videos.

  • @maxwell3814
    @maxwell38142 жыл бұрын

    This gave me goosebumps.. It feels like Freedom, a part of you no one can touch.... 🦋🦋

  • @stephenstuart9881
    @stephenstuart98812 жыл бұрын

    I've thought this was the definition of a meaningful life for decades - since I was very young: enjoying reading and thinking and learning as the real substance of life and work only as a way to pay the bills, but still, by the standards of capitalist culture, deep down, secretly perhaps, feeling like a failure. I now feel at least a little, that the life I've lived has been, and is, meaningful after all. Thanks for this video.

  • @dAvrilthebear

    @dAvrilthebear

    2 жыл бұрын

    Aren't you faced with a frightenning inability to share your inner intellectual life with others? If your colleague at work has an idea of how to organize the work better, he gets credit, attention, recognition -- at least 8 hours out of 24 improves in his life. Plus he might be praised at home for his achievement at work. I am being scolded by my daughter for spending my free time on popular quantum physics videos when it bears no relation to my work at a bank.

  • @stephenstuart9881

    @stephenstuart9881

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@dAvrilthebear Well - Yes, I don't know that it frightens me so much as frustrates me. But yes, basically what you're describing, absolutely that's been my life, you're right and appear to have a very similar experience to mine. (Or mine is similar to yours.) Some people I work with are a little impressed with my general knowledge, but you're right, if it doesn't have "practical" application in some money-making enterprise, then it doesn't "count." But, on the other hand, I do feel my deep and sincere curiosity about the world enriches my life, even if the world mostly regards me as just another face in the crowd. Recognition I'm sure is nice, but it's not the main thing.

  • @dAvrilthebear

    @dAvrilthebear

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@stephenstuart9881 Thank you for answering, Stephen!

  • @oadrums
    @oadrums2 жыл бұрын

    A great example is that right after this amazing spiritual talk about the freedom of just thinking and being you get to hear a phrase like ‘get smarter faster’

  • @sakibmahmud7196
    @sakibmahmud71962 жыл бұрын

    the most touching part of this film to me is how she described what it might look like rather than pointing what it is.

  • @nicholasbonar8249
    @nicholasbonar82492 жыл бұрын

    Consciousness is the ability to perceive, react, and interact with both the physical environment and non-physical, abstract environment. Full stimulation of the mind is in the presence of both. Autotelic interaction with life, itself. Stimulus of the mind body and soul, in every moment. Anyone who’s taken psychedelics can understand why they enhance these aspects of consciousness

  • @hughallbrooks8369

    @hughallbrooks8369

    2 жыл бұрын

    What psychedelics do for a person is really vividly demonstrate to the user the concept of Parallel dimensions. There is some truth to expanding your conciousness.

  • @nicholasbonar8249

    @nicholasbonar8249

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@hughallbrooks8369 to consider your idea without accepting or denying it, I can agree in the sense of dimensions as a construct of extended perception. Like how snakes perceive thermal matter. The brain is constantly funneling perceived stimulus, making shortcuts and blocking things out to create a stable coherent picture. Psychedelics loosen and alter these mechanisms... among other things

  • @hughallbrooks8369

    @hughallbrooks8369

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@nicholasbonar8249 Right I was making a comment from a more subjective point of view The objective scientific perspectives on altered states of consciousness gets deep into brain physiology and Neuro transmissions ECT. There is ongoing research into the legitimate use of psychedelics for mental illness and I didn't mean to imply I was an advocate of ", expand you conciousness" turn on and tune out type message that resonated in the 1960s. The recent buzz about the govt coming out with data on Unidentified Airial phenomena has me pondering if another more spiritual dimension can exist. Wormholes and Portals are Conceivably possible..BTW the Snakes thermal imaging analogy was perfect Human thermal imaging maybe on the ESP spectrum of intuition or De Ja Vu

  • @purneetp4328

    @purneetp4328

    2 жыл бұрын

    ​@@hughallbrooks8369 wouldn't this spiritual dimension be the equivalent of the astral realm? As for psychedelics, I connect with the idea that it slows your perception of time which in turn lets your brain notice the illusion of reality. Also, science won't get an answer they are satisfied with until they find the root (maybe dark matter/energy), they just keep observing effects and measuring those vs trying to get to the cause or at least in the perspective of it. I think psychedelics could help science solidify or create new assumptions they could then work off of versus turning a blind eye to what doesn't fit their current (old) assumptions.

  • @hughallbrooks8369

    @hughallbrooks8369

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@purneetp4328 Excellent points. I really gotta concentrate on these obscure questions. I'm just glad someone followed my mental gymnastics. The dark matter anti gravity technology is a intriguing idea The CERN atom smasher had a issue years ago that a researcher was worried a portal to demonic forces could be opened. I used to follow those stories. The assertion often cited is that DARPA is 50 yrs ahead in technology that is publically known. Even if it was only 30 yrs We the people are totally out of the loop.

  • @ultraviolet.catastrophe
    @ultraviolet.catastrophe2 жыл бұрын

    "To be an intellectual is to be interested in the truth." ~Me, just now.

  • @joelstephenson8017

    @joelstephenson8017

    2 жыл бұрын

    That credit tho😂

  • @joelstephenson8017

    @joelstephenson8017

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@DanielWieser Jesus said He is the truth. I think truth must be when your thoughts match reality. Like, for example, if you see wood and you think wood, that is true; whereas if you see wood and you think it's plastic, that thought does not match reality; it is false.

  • @abdulf7437

    @abdulf7437

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@joelstephenson8017 but how do you prove your thoughts match the reality, if you dreamt about wood you saw and touched wood inside the dream and for that moment it was real - it was the truth for you but when you woke up your realise it’s false (logically) , and if you bring out the argument that when I’m in reality the wood is real and is not otherwise makes that truth(or belief) very fragile because your never aware of your reality for the majority of the time and what about things that your told and belief but have never seen are they true or false. Inside the human mind there is only the desire to the truth and truth itself itself second to that desire, as long as we tell ourself what we believe is the truth we will be fine and when someone denies it we either change our belief or strongly reject the denial even if the opposition is right, of course not to say that there is no truth inside the human mind for example the statement “I see grass as green” that’s more true than saying “grass is green”, think of truth and false as a measure one the far right is truth and the far left is false and our believes and ideas are placed in between.

  • @israelmarius454

    @israelmarius454

    2 жыл бұрын

    Through reason, we can arrive to the truth!

  • @canderodr6981

    @canderodr6981

    2 жыл бұрын

    How do you know whats "the truth" ?

  • @lastdays9163
    @lastdays91632 жыл бұрын

    This was such a brilliant insight that needs more consideration from more people.

  • @Tanoaproductionsfiji
    @Tanoaproductionsfiji3 жыл бұрын

    Thank you for this video. Beautiful and masterfully produced. Keep up the good work, for the sake of humanity. 😎

  • @faizanabdullah4977
    @faizanabdullah49772 жыл бұрын

    Brilliance ❤ If people learned to deconstruct the superficial aspect of what is passed off as intellect, they would find a greater sense of purpose and value in their ordinary lives. We are so used to thinking of knowledge as this difficult pursuit to enlightenment that we don't realize that we ourselves possess the tools for the said fulfillment within the boundaries of our seemingly uneventful and mundane lives. And if we want to lead a more satisfied and wholesome life, we will have to dissect and dismember our perceived notions of what a purposeful and intellectual life looks or feels like; we will have to learn to be human and ordinary.

  • @EliGoldKnee
    @EliGoldKnee2 жыл бұрын

    I love the idea that work should not be acquisitive but should just be valuable for the process itself. Bravo!

  • @Sufanius
    @Sufanius2 жыл бұрын

    All that matters to me is the people I come in contact is my presence a help to them. How we treat one another matters. I share thoughts and seek to understand others around me. Thats what fills me connecting with humanity through means that don’t involve what makes us different but all of us are so much alike.

  • @MatiKase
    @MatiKase3 жыл бұрын

    Intelligence starts with taking full responsibility for your life... Every moment in life can be looked at from infinite perspectives and you can choose to fixate on one of them or... You can see the patterns like in that film "A Beautiful Mind" but it might be very hard for you to take control and actually make sense out of this life for a while after the first time you see them. The fixation on the patterns is very interesting at first but it can consume your mind... Learning to control the fixation is consuming... Be free and relaxed! The world and all the systems in it are old and there is nothing new. You might experience it as something new because you might remember only a few years you have had in this body. You can choose to follow and take part in the system or you can see the system work and build your mind outside of the system and explore! There are no idols and you are the one who can change everything in your life. There are infinite options and you determine the outcome for yourself. Manipulation in different levels is what uses you or it can be used. Be moral and ethical by not using other people as tools and you might find other dimensions to this life.

  • @ems7623

    @ems7623

    Жыл бұрын

    The main character in a beautiful mind was experiencing schizophrenia. It's deeply strange to discuss that in the same breath as the phrase "taking responsibility for your life." Psychosis has a way of getting in the way of having any control over your life, unless you manage to get good treatment for it. The man is a great example of someone whose mind prevented them from having the life he should have. And schizophrenic hallucinations and delusions might not be a misfire of our human skill for pattern detection, even though the film implies a connection between that and his earlier genius as one of the foundational thinkers of what would become game theory.

  • @TheGrinningViking
    @TheGrinningViking3 жыл бұрын

    Hmm. There's a kind of intellect like a sharp blade, some people have a handle on it and some don't. Then there's thought and philosophy for its own sake. Few people with mad, biting, often detrimental intellect indulge in philosophy. That kind of mind would either reject the concept of thinking about thought or be devoured by it. Perhaps they are poorer for it.

  • @baderaldhaian5520
    @baderaldhaian55202 жыл бұрын

    A wonderful video that left us craving for more, thank you!🙏🏻

  • @koreymoore5686
    @koreymoore56862 жыл бұрын

    This video is perfect for me, likely my favorite video ever, as it is so relevant to me in particular. Thank you for this.

  • @stinger4712
    @stinger47122 жыл бұрын

    That "thing" for which I do all this activity.... To watch my kids grow, to listen to what interesting people have to say about things I find interesting. That's it.

  • @miravavillamin9673
    @miravavillamin96732 жыл бұрын

    I could procrastinate & just watch these kind of videos all day😭❣️

  • @bleeper999
    @bleeper999 Жыл бұрын

    Thank you Zena.. this will stay with me for some time.. affirmation of what i have felt when working in nature.

  • @johneric3886
    @johneric38862 жыл бұрын

    Perfect presentation listened to it at 10:45p.m. in North East Ohio

  • @ConnoisseurOfExistence
    @ConnoisseurOfExistence Жыл бұрын

    That was beautifully said. And it has a lot of truth to it. Yet, it is also true, that some people have extraordinary cognitive abilities, in comparison to an average person. And most of them (if not all) have also some weirdness to them. As Aristotle said: "Great mind has never existed, without the touch of madness."...

  • @YHWHsaves-dot-com
    @YHWHsaves-dot-com3 жыл бұрын

    Yes, great insights!

  • @shilpabhat1442
    @shilpabhat14422 жыл бұрын

    This should be atleast a hour long, great video!

  • @AlixKRex
    @AlixKRexАй бұрын

    This actually brought me to tears of joy. I've been self-studying for fun for a couple of years now just preparing mentally to go back to school and I've been moved to tears in the struggles and tireless nights of that for myself. When I first embarked on finding free learning resources, I'd set a deadline to build my free repository of resources to make this wealth of knowledge I've found in my own research, available to others and shared through a channel I finally made. All that to say, I've found my passion, and it's made me more human and continues to do so, daily. I love learning and sharing that knowledge, to have discussions with others, and to keep exploring and wondering with my fellow humans. More than anything, to bring us closer together, rather than believing in this "us" and "them" fear mongering approach of many modern spaces, driving us further apart. This was absolutely beautiful! I might be overly emotional from also doing hours upon hours for days on end now of research in how to go back to school and how to get my PhD for Philosophy so I can be a Philosophy teacher but, know that I'm certainly crying from both that and this video. Seriously though, thank you so much for this moving, thought provoking, and inspiring video.

  • @sacdaabdurhman
    @sacdaabdurhman2 жыл бұрын

    “You can either experience the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. The choice is yours.” Sharing some love from small KZreadr 🤍

  • @jvb5590
    @jvb55903 жыл бұрын

    Thank you so much for this useful, helpful video - seriously speaking.

  • @gustavoh.8634
    @gustavoh.86342 жыл бұрын

    such a lovely lady

  • @Yagyaansh
    @Yagyaansh10 ай бұрын

    She is so relaxed confident and natural in what she's saying. Just fell in live with the topic she was talking about❤

  • @leonard1871
    @leonard18712 жыл бұрын

    2:00 my something else is physics , I'm most content studying it ...at times I can't even imagine my life without it tbh.

  • @randomizer1227
    @randomizer12272 жыл бұрын

    "An intellectual is someone who can lay in the couch 24 hours a day " - Me

  • @cocoho815
    @cocoho8152 жыл бұрын

    i feel so related, thanks for letting me watch this video

  • @allegrapetzetakis3170
    @allegrapetzetakis31702 жыл бұрын

    Thank you, simply & very well put...

  • @DistortedFaiths
    @DistortedFaiths2 жыл бұрын

    Think we have all these preconceptions of what an intellectual is from culture, and historical examples. Yet, we must be cautious what exact type of intellect is being referred to rather than a family of resemblances to similar things such as being knowledgable, wise, and observant. The question remains..

  • @Coco-pr3rz
    @Coco-pr3rz2 жыл бұрын

    "We can always become more human."

  • @lauraruizvelasco9327
    @lauraruizvelasco9327 Жыл бұрын

    Great video, in the simple you always find the essential. More videos of this type please

  • @AnasAli-nb9xc
    @AnasAli-nb9xc2 жыл бұрын

    It is very interesting, I love discussing such topics.

  • @LionElAton
    @LionElAton3 жыл бұрын

    I don’t see how this necessarily pertains to genius, and I think it doesn’t make sense to conflate an intellectual with a genius. I would say a genius is an outstanding positive outlier in a particular creative field or fields.

  • @NicciEisenhauer

    @NicciEisenhauer

    3 жыл бұрын

    That's a really salient definition! I agree.

  • @Korwinexile

    @Korwinexile

    3 жыл бұрын

    Not all genius can be held to be positive... there were some very evil outliers throughout human history.

  • @LionElAton

    @LionElAton

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@Korwinexile That’s not what I mean by positive. I mean positive in regards to say charting higher on a graph, rather than lower on a graph than the average, not positive in regards to morality.

  • @ac4uv

    @ac4uv

    3 жыл бұрын

    Delightful video. What intellectual means to me is a person who is strongly and passionately driven to learn with depth of knowledge about the world we live in and then desire to use their knowledge for purposes of sharing. Sharing ideas or knowledge by advocating for change or sharing thought with others who have similar thoughts or to encourage others to consider thinking about the world as they have learned to. Part of being intellectual for me is to have a sense of how little I / we know and how error prone our minds are to truth / reality. I consider pursuits such as politics, writing, philosophy, history, psychology, secularism, Etc. to be intellectual pursuits and interests such as Ultimate Fighting Championship and World Wrestling Federation not so much an intellectual activity. Hope I got your laughter in this heavy conversation. Cheers

  • @freedomfreedom6544

    @freedomfreedom6544

    3 жыл бұрын

    Very correct. This day and age I would even argue that the educated and the wise are at opposite ends.

  • @avantidolare1673
    @avantidolare16733 жыл бұрын

    This was beautiful 💙

  • @RM-gm7lu
    @RM-gm7lu2 жыл бұрын

    Great points in the video. Newton is another example that during the time of the plague he just dug deeper and quantified and defined his laws. So as not to worry too much about the covid for those still in lockdown, maximize the time for introspection to become more human.

  • @brohit2500
    @brohit25002 жыл бұрын

    I've had these issues with identity and purpose for a long time and I always feel like I have to be a certain way when I grow up and I have to be successful in a certain way. I'm quite anxious in my leisure time or when chilling with my friends, thinking that I could be using this time to pursue my goals or other things, but often found myself intrigued with things completely out of my field of purpose and interest. Maybe it's time I stop controlling everything and just let go of things sometimes because we live for a long time and trying to drive the entire time would be quite boring and wouldn't have any element of surprise or discovery in it. I think having an end purpose or goal really draws a line of limitation and denies us from anything else.

  • @bellumfallax
    @bellumfallax3 жыл бұрын

    It's always interesting to consider who is triggered by propositions such as hers.

  • @bellumfallax

    @bellumfallax

    2 жыл бұрын

    @Sline "Triggered.'

  • @d7ffab979
    @d7ffab9792 жыл бұрын

    I am such a person. I am an intellectual. I learn. Made me hop degrees. Some things you don't learn at university. Some things you have to live to learn-

  • @jordanrichard5710
    @jordanrichard57103 жыл бұрын

    Great video!

  • @mrcute4584
    @mrcute45842 жыл бұрын

    She is really good. I would love to hear her more!!!!

  • @vancoenraad72
    @vancoenraad723 жыл бұрын

    Every human being has been blessed with different abilities, talents, and capabilities.

  • @Philitron128

    @Philitron128

    3 жыл бұрын

    I wish but that's just bullshit

  • @MarketWizard546

    @MarketWizard546

    3 жыл бұрын

    Most people have something that they're good at, but unfortunately the word "every" is a bit of a stretch

  • @prabathraj7062

    @prabathraj7062

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@Philitron128 He's right actually but what he failed to mention is, not all of those skills or talents are gonna be worthy of money.

  • @Philitron128

    @Philitron128

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@prabathraj7062 I can agree with that. Unfortunately that's mainly what our current society values. Hopefully this changes in the future

  • @importantname
    @importantname3 жыл бұрын

    Too much anything is seen as an obsession, wich is discrimatory against those who like doing something much more than other people. Same, same for intellectual endevours.

  • @sci-fiblog9285
    @sci-fiblog9285Ай бұрын

    this is so wise, thank you for this great channel!

  • @hourslookingsideways7850
    @hourslookingsideways78502 жыл бұрын

    This is good. Anyone notice that the candles that were being lit on the cake were trick candles, the kind that relight when you blow them out?

  • @gurshaancheema7840
    @gurshaancheema78402 жыл бұрын

    "I have spent some time with Aristotle" I thought she was in her 60s

  • @CreeperDude567

    @CreeperDude567

    2 жыл бұрын

    Who knows....... she may have gone to elementary school with George Washington. Lol jk....... I think she meant with his works and writings... haha.

  • @janetfayard672
    @janetfayard6722 жыл бұрын

    💚 loved this. Thank you!

  • @YoutubeKeyboardIssueSucks
    @YoutubeKeyboardIssueSucks Жыл бұрын

    can be either forms of :(not necessarily all) -critical thinker -knows its own mind -hasn't stopped learning - has non-shut mind (open perspective) - can break doctrine - is curious ( to learn more about the world)

  • @wilfordthe4th422
    @wilfordthe4th4222 жыл бұрын

    “Intelligent quotes are intelligent” -Intelligent person

  • @devochile
    @devochile2 жыл бұрын

    "How to live an intellectual life"....What a fascinating topic you've created here...Heres a few more ideas for your "creative" mind..."How to share your narcissism in a 5 minute video"..."How to create an illusion of intelligence"...."How to sit in a chair and exude self-confidence"...."How to maintain a love affair with yourself"...or "How to engage in a lengthy diatribe of nonsense while absolutely unaware".

  • @duartelucas8129
    @duartelucas81292 жыл бұрын

    Found this to be strangely soothing and reassuring of one.

  • @nancyoffenhiser4916
    @nancyoffenhiser49163 жыл бұрын

    Ms. Hitz, You give me hope that my life has not been a waste. All the categories you ticked off, plus living in the Monastery, I have done. Fortunate, I have been able to take 3 retirement periods in my life, doing nothing but Reading, Study, Nature and indeed Bird Watching. and now I am on my "Official" Retirement. I took it early, I would rather live with very limited income now but live authentically then live through another three to four years of Soul crushing pain of daily work at a "job". Now is the time to write my book, to sort out what I have gained. Thank you again❤️❤️

  • @Korwinexile

    @Korwinexile

    3 жыл бұрын

    You would need a very good editor.

  • @nancyoffenhiser4916

    @nancyoffenhiser4916

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@Korwinexile Hahaha!! Thanks a lot!! LOL!!!

  • @ELECTECHNUT
    @ELECTECHNUT2 жыл бұрын

    I was optimistic about this video, but ultimately disappointed in the lack of hack, tips, etc. A lot of warm fuzzy photos, but no real tools.

  • @adityamali5356

    @adityamali5356

    2 жыл бұрын

    The hack and tip you missed on to is, there is no any hack or tip of any kind.

  • @onlylauren4712

    @onlylauren4712

    2 жыл бұрын

    Hacks on how to be a genius?!

  • @aguilarrojasoctavio4402

    @aguilarrojasoctavio4402

    2 жыл бұрын

    Man, she said the most important thing: It is a process. That´s it. It involves methodologies, no fear to be wrong but to keep knowing even apparently unuseful things. It is about learning how to use your brain properly, do you think there is an only way to do it?

  • @NoName-ym5zj
    @NoName-ym5zj2 жыл бұрын

    "Here is a deep quote that's sounds very intellectual, i post it so other people can see my insightful comment and realize what an intellectual i am and that i am more intellectual than them." - Some obscure author.

  • @chiranjibsahoo7833
    @chiranjibsahoo78332 жыл бұрын

    I have bought and read the text Lost in Thought. It's a very good read. Loved it.

  • @kkattavega117
    @kkattavega1173 жыл бұрын

    Mind-blowing....😎😁💯

  • @Victor-oy8bj
    @Victor-oy8bj3 жыл бұрын

    Honestly I’m 99% positive I’m a genius. I can say the alfabet backwards.

  • @CJ0101

    @CJ0101

    3 жыл бұрын

    tebafla?

  • @kevins921

    @kevins921

    2 жыл бұрын

    Honestly, if you think you have an easy time thinking about problems and thier solutions maybe you are a genius, but to be intelligent you need to dedicate yourself to learn, and to be an expert you gotta dedicate yourself to a field, so don't let your genius waste away.

  • @tensaijuusan4653

    @tensaijuusan4653

    2 жыл бұрын

    Me too. And I can actually spell - alphabet!

  • @melt0794

    @melt0794

    2 жыл бұрын

    Underrated comment

  • @haziqi3517

    @haziqi3517

    2 жыл бұрын

    Haht si ot ysae rof em

  • @CurrencyMAC
    @CurrencyMAC3 жыл бұрын

    Early viewers? 🖐

  • @dreamclassics2507

    @dreamclassics2507

    3 жыл бұрын

    🖖

  • @JoeBro23

    @JoeBro23

    3 жыл бұрын

    I'm at work but it's okay

  • @AnaBeatrizColares

    @AnaBeatrizColares

    3 жыл бұрын

    Hi, I'm here! ☺

  • @scienceium5233

    @scienceium5233

    3 жыл бұрын

  • @basicinsight7214

    @basicinsight7214

    3 жыл бұрын

    Post-First Syndrome in action.

  • @matthewstoffel5446
    @matthewstoffel5446 Жыл бұрын

    This is the most heard I have felt in all of Uni

  • @apub593
    @apub593 Жыл бұрын

    This is so profound. Thank you

  • @nickgarrity764
    @nickgarrity7643 жыл бұрын

    So many types of IQs are measurable and of immense worth. Sometimes more so than the classic IQ. Musical IQ is the one I’m working on now. Genius is in all of us. Straight up.

  • @unpluggedgamer1378

    @unpluggedgamer1378

    3 жыл бұрын

    this energy ⚡️💥💪

  • @j0tt0

    @j0tt0

    3 жыл бұрын

    To me sound music is the language of the universe. It even has math in it

  • @unpluggedgamer1378

    @unpluggedgamer1378

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@j0tt0 interesting care to elaborate?

  • @j0tt0

    @j0tt0

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@unpluggedgamer1378 did I ever saw the movie or read the book of Carl Sagan "Contact" how aliens communicate with the planet earth by patterns of sounds almost like a type of Morse code. Then the quote of Tesla to understand the universe in terms of energy vibration and frequency. String theory states that mater is energy vibrating in different frequencies. Each planet of the solar system vibrate in a different scale and has it effects on us. The 432hz frequency that it is present in the dimension of the planet earth and so much others that have different effects....

  • @unpluggedgamer1378

    @unpluggedgamer1378

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@j0tt0 theirs no denying energy has a frequency but imagine what we think we know is a lot but when in reality we have only a 10th of a corner of the whole picture i agree aliens or whatever people want to call beings that are not from this world exist the math doesn’t point to them not co-existing with us somewhere in this endless solar system we currently know. elon musk no doubt he’s a genius if you dont think so just tell me your bank balance and the debate will probably end their. 432-440hz frequency i have looked into quite amazing to listen to while reading julius ceaser by shakespere if you ask me. keep on keeping on my dude.

  • @thesunset5610
    @thesunset56103 жыл бұрын

    I love researching, reading, learning, thinking, dreaming on scientific things. I do a lot. Does that makes me intellectual?

  • @avinashprasad2

    @avinashprasad2

    3 жыл бұрын

    Does it matter weather you call yourself an "intellectual" or not if you like what you're doing.

  • @Korwinexile

    @Korwinexile

    3 жыл бұрын

    "Does that make me an intellectual?"

  • @Korwinexile

    @Korwinexile

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@avinashprasad2 "whether"

  • @thesunset5610

    @thesunset5610

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@avinashprasad2 True

  • @thesunset5610

    @thesunset5610

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@Korwinexile sorry for my bad grammar

  • @setiandromeda6091
    @setiandromeda60912 жыл бұрын

    Great.thought provoking encouraging ad honest

  • @MrMarktrumble
    @MrMarktrumble Жыл бұрын

    Thank you

  • @alexanderberan77
    @alexanderberan772 жыл бұрын

    "I like to think of myself as the young Albert Einstein, however I like to not think about my lack of intelligence."

  • @Jivris
    @Jivris2 жыл бұрын

    Although the speaker had gained my attention, I couldn't exactly understand what point she was making

  • @benwincelberg9684

    @benwincelberg9684

    2 жыл бұрын

    Yes! I think she raised an interesting topic with a different perspective but left most of the questions open

  • @jayceladkins7721

    @jayceladkins7721

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@benwincelberg9684 the speaker doesn’t edit the video.

  • @annasushko2572
    @annasushko25722 жыл бұрын

    Such a cool video! I would like to know more about this topic! Editing and Zena Hits speach are both amazing!

  • @themagicgoblin580

    @themagicgoblin580

    10 ай бұрын

    Hello! Greetings from Puerto Rico 🙂

  • @englishwithmuzammal3596
    @englishwithmuzammal35962 жыл бұрын

    It is about what you want in life. This is a very basic question that is not mostly asked by the people, intellectuals, and others. They do what they are told: in childhood by parents, in schools by teachers, in jobs by bosses, in business by government or customers, and at the end by their guardians or doctors. The moment they realize that they may do what they want, a new journey starts with good or bad outcomes, but at least this is the path chosen with freedom, not told or forced by others. So, find that moment in your life as soon as you can and live a life of a genius.

  • @fernandoreynaaguilar1438
    @fernandoreynaaguilar14382 жыл бұрын

    This Is based on a wrong premise: you're equating "intellectual" with "genius". They are not the same

  • @virus2003

    @virus2003

    2 жыл бұрын

    I believe it's called "click bait".

  • @muskannm1342

    @muskannm1342

    2 жыл бұрын

    @Fernando Rayna Aguilar how they are different , can you please explain?

  • @Z3nHolEminD

    @Z3nHolEminD

    2 жыл бұрын

    Kind of like an ignorant and a philosopher but no one wants to be called “ ignorant “

  • @freedomfreedom6544
    @freedomfreedom65443 жыл бұрын

    What do intellectuals have to do with geniuses? The educated and wise are actually on opposite ends this day and age.

  • @ramjankhandelwal4849

    @ramjankhandelwal4849

    3 жыл бұрын

    That's right! Let me share a thought: Mozart was a genius for he composed brilliant compositions in a very short amount of time in contrast to other musicians who might end up taking rather large amount of time on perfecting a single musical composition. But apart from music, he had nothing more to himself. Which makes me think he being genius is unquestionable yet would be justified to call him an intellectual too?

  • @davyroger3773

    @davyroger3773

    2 жыл бұрын

    That's a true distinction, you can be an intellectual and have an iq of 165 but if you don't produce anything useful and new you cant be a genius. Creativity and non conformity are more pertinent to genius than intellectualism at a certain point

  • @Kanakadea
    @Kanakadea2 жыл бұрын

    great video. i showed it to my wife and she liked it too

  • @DrErnst
    @DrErnst2 жыл бұрын

    bless this beautiful soul. and bless people with big ideas and aspiration nomatter if they work in the ice cream stand or in the university with a opertunity to think clearly and freely without the confinds of other mens thought or social imperatives or hierarchies..

  • @vijeshnarayan9422
    @vijeshnarayan94222 жыл бұрын

    She seems to be a career intellectual,and then it is quite natural that she lost interest in both career and intellectual works..

  • @tessafox1329
    @tessafox13292 жыл бұрын

    Having an anylitcal mind is important. Being able to analyze information to rule out the bs in life is imperative. I think people who are religious are not capable of anylitcal thinking.

  • @altosack

    @altosack

    2 жыл бұрын

    Many people who are religious are capable of analytical thought. They may have more difficulties with standards of evidence, particularly with subjects ingrained into their whole being / identity from a very young age.

  • @arnoldasskulskis9276
    @arnoldasskulskis92762 жыл бұрын

    Wow I already would like to enroll in classes this lady is teaching:d...

  • @DinoMan_6
    @DinoMan_63 жыл бұрын

    Been doing it all my life.

  • @itzkakashi2531
    @itzkakashi25312 жыл бұрын

    " An intelectual person is a person who doesnt comment about intellectuality " - meeeee

  • @kloassie
    @kloassie3 жыл бұрын

    Just for the record: a 'genius' is not the same as an 'intellectual'. You may be an intellectual, but you're (probably) not a genius at the level of Aristotle, Albert Einstein or John Nash (from A Beautiful Mind)

  • @abhyudaychakraborty3818
    @abhyudaychakraborty3818 Жыл бұрын

    Most important big think video period.

  • @karyamandalinci5890
    @karyamandalinci5890 Жыл бұрын

    what a beautiful video, thank you.

  • @Bigfoot_With_Internet_Access
    @Bigfoot_With_Internet_Access3 жыл бұрын

    Wait you guys have positive IQ scores?

  • @Userizekai123

    @Userizekai123

    Жыл бұрын

    💀💀

  • @lillion3560

    @lillion3560

    11 ай бұрын

    Gone

  • @bahaxeldeen
    @bahaxeldeen2 жыл бұрын

    An Intellectual mind will always miss the core of life.

  • @flowerintherain6956

    @flowerintherain6956

    2 жыл бұрын

    the core of the life is the truth. which an intellectual seeks to find. living in a delusion and being ignorant will not only miss the core but also wasted his whole precious life. peace ✌️

  • @Shadow77999

    @Shadow77999

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@flowerintherain6956 wrong, ignorance is bliss

  • @flowerintherain6956

    @flowerintherain6956

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@Shadow77999 well if u talk about childhood innocent happiness and joy. i agree. but that kind of bliss doesn't last long. while the bliss we got from conscious thought and understanding last long.

  • @maxs.8216
    @maxs.8216 Жыл бұрын

    So wonderful!

  • @bennyemusic5182
    @bennyemusic51823 жыл бұрын

    Excellent