You already hit on it. The term is intellectual. It can be qualified, e.g. Rousseau and Voltaire were intellectual giants of French Rationalism.
The word for this group as a class is intelligentsia. The intelligentsia of Paris in the early 20th century included some of the brightest lights in contemporary Western art and literature. Both words are often used as a sneer by anti-intellectuals. > Here's a question that a friend of mine asked me, and I thought the CF > folks could throw in on this. > > Intellectual achievement is something that we, as a society, should > want to > encourage. Sadly, the term "nerd" or "geek" has negative connotations, > largely focused around social dysfunction: > > - "Our IT guy? He's a real computer geek." > - "All she does is study. She's such a nerd." > > I am looking for a word or label that can be used to describe > individuals > who seek to expand their mind and explore the world. "Renaissance Man" > is a > bit outdated and also somewhat gender specific. "Scholar" tends to > focus on scholastic achievment. > > The term should have positive connotations that can be used in > sentences like: > > - "He's a ranked boxer and also a X." > > - "When she isn't out snowboarding, she's programming web pages. > Clearly, she's an athlete and a X". > > - "I am a X." > > Thoughts, people? > Cameron ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Find out how CFTicket can increase your company's customer support efficiency by 100% http://www.houseoffusion.com/banners/view.cfm?bannerid=49 Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:5:164940 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:5 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
