8 ms·

Somewhat related: "As of this writing, Cambridge seems to be the intellectual capital of the world. I realize that seems a preposterous claim. What makes it tr

by paulgb 14y ago

Somewhat related: "As of this writing, Cambridge seems to be the intellectual capital of the world. I realize that seems a preposterous claim. What makes it true is that it's more preposterous to claim about anywhere else." -- Paul Graham (http://www.paulgraham.com/cities.html http://www.paulgraham.com/cities.html)

eli_gottlieb 14y ago
I lived in Cambridge for a while, and that's absolutely preposterous. The city is merely very full of itself and pretentious, and simply does not have an absolute concentration or monopoly on brains. In fact, most of the "normal" population of Boston and Cambridge rather resent having to play host to the universities. Harvard and MIT are practically adjacent by West Coast standards Given that they're less than two miles away from each other, they're practically adjacent by any standards. You can ride the #1 bus for a while or the Red Line just two stops from MIT to Harvard or vice-versa.
wybo 14y ago
I'd rather say Oxford is ;)
alecbenzer 14y ago
I always thought this was really silly of PG to say. If you had some "intellectuality index" of cities and Cambridge _just_ inched out other cities, it'd be true that it'd be more preposterous to call any other city the intellectual capital of the world -- but it doesn't mean it's still not preposterous to say it about Cambridge.
eyeface 14y ago
It also seems to assume that there is an intellectual capital of the world.
potatolicious 14y ago
I might believe Cambridge to the academic intellectual capital of the world, but I don't think it's even close to the overall intellectual capital of the world. For that you'd want to look at economic powerhouse cities like New York, London, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore, etc. Applied intellectualism is just as significant - especially for us here in startupland. All of these world cities represent an enormous mass of smart, motivated, educated people who are generating huge impact, much moreso than even the collective sum of a few of the world's best academic institutions.

by paulgb 14y ago

eli_gottlieb 14y ago

I lived in Cambridge for a while, and that's absolutely preposterous. The city is merely very full of itself and pretentious, and simply does not have an absolute concentration or monopoly on brains. In fact, most of the "normal" population of Boston and Cambridge rather resent having to play host to the universities. Harvard and MIT are practically adjacent by West Coast standards Given that they're less than two miles away from each other, they're practically adjacent by any standards. You can ride the #1 bus for a while or the Red Line just two stops from MIT to Harvard or vice-versa.

wybo 14y ago

I'd rather say Oxford is ;)

alecbenzer 14y ago

I always thought this was really silly of PG to say. If you had some "intellectuality index" of cities and Cambridge _just_ inched out other cities, it'd be true that it'd be more preposterous to call any other city the intellectual capital of the world -- but it doesn't mean it's still not preposterous to say it about Cambridge.

eyeface 14y ago

It also seems to assume that there is an intellectual capital of the world.

potatolicious 14y ago

I might believe Cambridge to the academic intellectual capital of the world, but I don't think it's even close to the overall intellectual capital of the world. For that you'd want to look at economic powerhouse cities like New York, London, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore, etc. Applied intellectualism is just as significant - especially for us here in startupland. All of these world cities represent an enormous mass of smart, motivated, educated people who are generating huge impact, much moreso than even the collective sum of a few of the world's best academic institutions.