What It Means to Live an Intellectual Life

“An intellectual is someone whose mind watches itself.”

Albert Camus

We have all seen movies that stereotype intellects. They are always a smart kid and appear to see things differently than everyone else. From the way Hollywood portrays it, you would think all intellects are wizards or mysterious beings that are wired differently.

Fortunately, intellects are nothing like that at all. If they were, they probably would have taken over the world or been treated like mutants in X-men. Although we do like to think that they have extraordinary abilities, they are not that much different to you and me.

Most of us believe that living the way intellects do is near impossible, but to live an intellectual life is closer to us than we think. The likes of Carl Jung, Einstein and Nietzsche may have all had similar traits on a personality level, but they all experienced life differently.

It is often lived experiences that can bring about a change in character. For the intellect, their lived experiences become the things they use to go deeper than most think. In this short article, I would like to highlight why many will find an intellectual life strange.