Unsophisticated

And That's Fine

“Lacking refined worldly knowledge or tastes.” – Oxford Languages

During my adolescence in the 70’s, I noticed a segment of my classmates had gone places and done things. I hadn’t. They had fashionable clothes and participated in after school activities. I didn’t. Most classmates who observed these differences were respectful of my compromised situation. But there was an indifferent, and sometimes cruel, few. I had a hard shell, so I was never ashamed. I knew in my soul that anyone in my family could outthink or outwork any of them. I was right, and worthy of my smirk. Resentful for sure, but admittedly, a little jealous.

Through early adulthood, I developed affectations to soften the hard lines between me and the more sophisticated. I read a lot and faked worldliness. I had a good memory, so I peppered my conversations with big words. It worked. In college, people were surprised when I revealed I’d never been beyond my border community between Iowa and Illinois.

As a young professional, I had to change my approach. I was a good engineer. But I worked with great engineers. And great craftsmen. Pretending in this audience wouldn’t work. I softened those lines with genuine servility combined with best-I-could-fake-it humility. Growing older and working around such talented people taught me a lot about sophistication. Great engineers and craftsmen are like great doctors, nurses, and medical technicians; like great firemen, policemen, and soldiers; like great farmers and fishermen; like great merchants and teachers. I learned that the common characteristic of the “great” is intellectual authenticity, not sophistication. The “great” come from a scattershot of society with varying levels of sophistication. There are many results-driven, self-confident, smart, unsophisticated people doing brilliant things in the world.

This reflection was triggered by the recent Colbert segment: Must See: Stephen Colbert Accidentally Gets Laughs Saying CNN Is "Objective" | Video | RealClearPolitics. A supposedly enlightened talk-show host interviewed a supposedly informed television anchor. They got a laugh they didn’t expect. They were clearly disconnected from their audience, confused, and dismissive. I was reminded of the stark insensitivity of those arrogant few from my adolescence.

Virtually all national-access media consists of a relatively small set of hosts, columnists, government and academic notables, entertainers, cultural elites, pollsters and media producers. We hear from them all the time and in ever-higher doses. Their role in society is to offer informed observations and guidance. Their common trait is their choice to make this their life’s work. They live where that work is done. They associate with people who made similar choices. They distinguish themselves as “educated,” “urban,” and “cultured.” In other words, sophisticated. To me, it seems they make a natural, yet mistaken, intellectual leap. They assume their perceived success and cultural vitality is aspirational. If you are not sophisticated, like them, you should want to be, they think.

These sophisticates feel called to explain our divisions by characterizing the Others – the people who don’t comport with their sophisticated views. Pollsters segment college-educated-urban-atheists from high-school-educated-rural-Christians. They, of course, are among the first group. Pundits and commentators apply ever-more-specific distinctions, as if it means something to consider if a group of Asian, gay, female actuaries from Seattle share a view on immigration with white, straight, male plumbers from rural Missouri. Maybe they don’t, or maybe they do. I don’t know why it matters. But if I identify with the plumbers, I conclude this analysis is not about lifting up plumbers. It is smug sophisticates seeking favorability by comparison. I wouldn’t like it. I don’t think I’m alone.

Some of them make a too-obvious effort to appear folksy, to attach to the Others among their audience. Such paternalism does not work in their favor. Even if they had it to begin with, each of them chose to leave behind their Otherness. When our cultural arbiters notice that good and sensible things happen – even out here among the proletariat – they expect us to be gratified by the acknowledgement. I’m not. I’m actually shocked at what they consider noteworthy. We the unsophisticated are absolutely seething with inventiveness and neighborliness, even when we’re not noticed by the worthies. It confuses me that they consider it rare enough for today’s national “good news” segment. Fawning over our natural goodwill is not informative.

Some are so comfortable in their own pomposity that they don’t even try. Media personalities highlight their own feuds as if they are our feuds. They repeat each other’s personal stories as if they are significant. A broadcaster lost weight; a reporter had a baby; an actor died unexpectedly… A newly popular author makes the rounds to all the network studios… This royal is sick; this athlete overcame addiction; this professor is controversial… So, if we’re bored enough to watch, we hear it on the early morning show, then the morning show, then the late morning show, then the news at noon, then the afternoon talkies… And if you missed it, you can stream it unedited (who does that?). Over-reporting, over-producing, and over-playing their own interviews, challenges, and travels is empty content. It is just celebrities celebrating each other because they are… sophisticated?... and we are… expected to care?

Most of us would identify ourselves within the socio-sphere as among the Others on some sliding scale of sophistication. And yet, most of us would feel insulted if we were described as unsophisticated. We may even agree with the statement. But we would still feel judged. So, we may be suspicious or resentful of those doing the judging. Unfortunately, as mass media has concentrated, the closed set of “urban-educated-cultured” has become more exclusive. It is mathematically certain that as such a set becomes more urban, more educated, and more cultured, it excludes more genuinely smart people.

This is why national media struggles with credibility. To me, it’s amazing to watch how much they think they matter when, increasingly, they don’t. They are just doing their ever-less-important jobs badly. They have journalism and performance degrees from ivy league schools, and they have to do something to keep their names on the roster. These ever-more-isolated cultural mouthpieces assume their own affirmation, even though undeserved. The more notoriety they build from their nothingness, the more exclusive their circle. Unfortunately, then, more people sit outside of that circle, sensing separation. It is the natural evolution of a shrinking, detached elite; diminishing in relevance; confused as to why.

I’m older now. I’ve gone places and done things. Any contempt or jealousy from my youth has been diluted into hilarity. I find the self-seriousness of the self-proclaimed sophisticates funny. Upon reflection, I was lucky. I didn’t trap myself with sophisticated aspirations. I recognized early that authentically brilliant people, of which there are many, don’t seek exclusive stature. Today’s sophisticates would surely still label me unsophisticated. Now, I’m fine with that.