Confucius said: "If you look at a man and feel inferior, examine your education; if you look at a man and feel superior, examine your character."
It is a personal pet peeve of mine when people attempt to act as though they are more intelligent than someone else. Don't get me wrong, not all people have the same intelligence level, but to lord a supposed intellectual advantage over someone really only reveals the intellectual inferiority (and insecurities) of that person.
Recently I was introduced to the term "intellectual snob." I find this term highly amusing. It is the duty of the intelligent to help the less intelligent. I believe this to be fundamental to the human condition. The inventor of the wheel didn't hoard his invention; he shared it with the world. The great scholars of the world realized the need for education, and promoted it. Imagine if Aristotle had kept his knowledge only for his inner circle. The world would have been deprived.
I recently came across someone who classified themselves as an "intellectual snob," quite proudly too. I patronized him by playing a little game he was trying to play in an effort to see what was really behind the ugly facade that had led me to him in the first place. I found what I have found time and time again when dealing with people who feel superior to others, nothing. An absolute lack of substance. Oh I'm sure within his little circle he enjoys some degree of semi-celebrity. Most snobs do. Ironically this happened to be something he was railing against when I met him. But that is neither here nor there.
When confronted with the various flaws in his logic, he did what typical, unskilled debaters do. Attempt to "posture" and attack the credibility of his critic. Inevitably he degenerated to deflecting facts with smarmy humor, and the use of sarcasm to push aside truth, further deflating his own arguments. I endeavored one more time to persuade him that certain statements he made were false, unnecessary, and disingenuous, but to no avail. I tried to show the social responsibility of the intelligent, no response. I don't think he understood what I was saying.
The person in question now has eliminated the way in which we were communicating before for me, leading me to believe he no longer wants to continue our discussions. It's fine by me, I have plenty of other things to do in my life, and wasting my time on someone who wants to get into a pissing contest about his supposed higher intelligence level is frankly something I consider beneath me. To be a snob about intellect is not only classless, it shows a lack of intelligence in and of itself...and the distinct need to examine one's character.
