Professional Layman used to be a nick/definition I gave myself when first tried blogging a few years back (the blog failed, by the way). One who learns a bit about everything out of curiousity and to deal with life, one who suffers in the mechanic categorization of trades, who has a view on everything as an outsider, a layman, yet the urge to express and share his non-expert views.
Thus spoke the Professional Layman: I specialize in generalization.
What a good story! what a cool self-positioning! Even if it doesn't win you a high-pay job or the mortals' respect for experts, I thought, at least I was being creative & original...
I wasn't (just discovered in this article on Public Intellectuals).
"What do you specialize in?, Daniel Bell was once asked. Generalizations, he replied."
Ha! Somebody already beautifully summed it up long long time ago, you ignorant...
Good try though, a lesson learnt. And some joy to share...
Why tell the world you are not original? Why so happy about it?
Cast aside the vanity & self-branding gimmick of being the uniquely first, you realized something more important...
You are not alone.
also: a bit more about public intellectuals in the article
...New York Intellectuals... Broadly, they viewed the public intellectual as someone deeply committed to the life of the mind and to its impact on the society at large.
...public intellectuals were free-floating and unattached generalists speaking out on every topic that came their way...
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