Guess who doesn't like you?

I'm probably going to get in a lot of trouble for saying this, but I am going to let you all in on a little known secret. People with professional degrees think that they are better than you. Yes, your doctor, he thinks you are an idiot, and that he is better than you. Your neighbor, the lawyer, he thinks you are a waste of time and air. Your professor, he doesn't really care about you either. You won't get him tenure, and you couldn't understand his book, even if you did read it. He thinks he's better than you and everyone else in his class. He even thinks he is better than his own mother. Honest.

This is how it happens... "we" (and by we, I mean all people seeking or having recieved a terminal professional degree) start out as normal human beings... we think other humans are generally nice, and also, interesting. Doctors, in preparation for their careers, have to cut up human cadavers, and learn to see people as a combination of symptoms rather than a whole person. This is necessary, because the sad reality of being a doctor is that people die... and you can't take that personally. Lawyers have to think of cases as a set of facts, not really all that particular to the individual. They have to view things at this level of abstraction, because sometimes, they will lose their case. That's life. Psychologists and sociologists study human behavior at the individual level in an attempt to understand and make generalizations about what and why people do. All of these groups do this, and sit around for years, (3-6 years, to be more precise ) talking amongst themselves in a distinct but exclusive vocabulary that is not even discernable across disciplines and fields. We learn to talk about people in a way that the people can't even understand. Then it follows naturally that if people don't understand this language, but we do, then we are not people... we are demi-gods. That's right folks. This is why "we" are better than you. I mean, what's not better about being a demi-god? HA!

For example, in my discipline, it is a commonly regarded fact that you can't ask people why they did something, because, well, people are dumb and don't know why they did it... so they will tell you things that make them sound better, but are essentially lies. Silly lying mortals! Then, when we study you, y0u occassionally attempt to critique us. We loathe this more than anything. You, with no expertise in anything, DARE to question us? Try this with any doctor, lawyer or professor and witness how taken aback they are. That being said, pandering to the public is not seen as particularly favorable either. This is the real reason that Cornell West and Harvard ended up parting ways... what self respecting professor tries to make his work accessible to the masses? Ew.

Actually, we only care about the public for two reasons... one is to get quoted, cited or referenced, so that we can inflate our egos. Second, is to get you to buy our books. Never mind that you won't understand them, just buy them anyway... you'll look more intelligent.

Professional fields are very incestuous. We produce knowledge for ourselves, to be consumed by ourselves, discussed by ourselves, and understood by ourselves. The masses basically serve as a means to an end. We can study you to further our research... you know, so we will have something to talk about. Other than that, we will eschew you as often as possible, interact with you when we must, and laugh about you later. Silly mortals...