You do have a point. Though appropriately Shimerian my list does sort of defeat its own purpose. As far as other non intellectual books go, I'll have to confess to Georgette Heyer novels (Regency Romance) and some Dashiell Hammett. So really, anything goes. Though not a latin scholar I have looked at Winnie Ille Pu and it seems to be an interesting translation idea. Winnie never struck me as very Roman so I have to wonder how he sounds in that language.

Shimer is such a tight knit community it is always useful to see how things get treated in different settings. I think the key with regard to intelligence is that I wasn't suggesting that there is a correspondence between critical thinking and say raw brain power. Instead I was trying to comment on the cultural tendency to regard wordy speaking as a form of talking down to someone. I think it is an interesting trend. The fact is, as you said, we do ask questions here, we ask a lot of questions and usually people are only asked questions when they are being set up to prove themselves wrong. Or at least in my experience with traditional education. No one ever asks you to explain a correct idea, it is just correct. That kind of thing doesn't work here but realizing that things operate like that in a lot of the world many of use grew up in clears up why we have trouble deciding if Socrates (or that person in our class who always badgers us with questions) is really honestly curious, or just a jerk. Just another on going adjustment I think. Though I've mostly been able to make up my mind about my classmates, the jury is still out on Socrates.

It is nice to know this is happening to other people too! I'm curious to know how people are interpreting your tone because I've been getting some interesting suggestions. Apparently my new style of speaking seems to make people think I believe them to be stupid. Possibly a great dependence upon exact language suggests that you don't trust a person's intelligence? I can see it being taken that way though I tend to take the opposite view.

Cassie, You're right. I know that I will look back and think of my year at Shimer as so much more productive than a year at my high school would have been. I think after a year of Great Books, you have to remember how to talk to people who haven't read what you've read. This means there are whole levels of connotations they don't understand, it is a lot like speaking a different language, except the words all sound the same, the grammar is even the same. I guess it is sort of like a code. I think I will adapt to this kind of bilingual, and we'll go from there. I also remember the annoying Maryland health requirement. But you don't know how much cried when I moved north found out FOUR years of PE/Health are required in New Jersey.