Do you know why you belong to this group? You belong because you love new ideas. You belong because you have strong opinions about things other than your shoes (which look good, by the way) and because you want to talk about them (your opinions, not your shoes) with other people who also love ideas. You are here because you want to hear from people who know more than you about too many things and because you want to know what they know, because youre curious, because youre willing to fight for your curiosity. You belong here because youre not shy about letting people know what you know (or what you think you know). You dont mind that people call you pretentious. In fact, you kind of like it because you know that pretentious is now an empty modifier used by people who want to disparage something without really thinking too much about it and because being disparaged by such mental vegetables is its own compliment.

You read. You like the Artforum and Bookforum websites. You're always searching for new music. You dont care if your friends don't understand your passion for 1930s cinema. You write emails to Noam Chomsky in your spare time, and sometimes he responds to you. You know more about Gothic architecture and non-Euclidean geometry and the Democratic Peace Theory than anyone else in this group, and you want to tell us why we should know about it, too. You love being a nerd, and those who dont love it can go to hell.

No one here will mind if you quote passages in foreign languages or reference Adorno, Deleuze, Zizek, Cornel West or Judith Butler when you discuss "Flava of Love" or the three versions of "King Kong." You aren't afraid to say that the wild popularity of "The Da Vinci Code" is the best evidence yet that modern democracy is doomed to failure and stupidity. You want to talk about critical theory and important social issues. And unimportant social issues. And independent record labels. And post-postmodernism. And the future of television. And Ron Paul. And mullets. And immigration reform. And the effect of mullets on immigration reform (think about it!). And why String Theory is bullshit. Or why it's not bullshit. You get excited when you talk about your ideas. Sometimes you may get a little angry or other people get a little angry but you love it because it's fucking fantastic and energetic and challenging and insightful and because it has nothing to do with webcam whores and illegible typing.

Welcome. You're part of the Intelligentsia.