@MWolf, very thoughtful response. Loved the tropes and think your description/analysis seems to be on target. I live in a world where a) many of my friends are very smart (elite professors, high-end consultants, biotech execs, PE and Venture folks, etc.); b) people hire me because of ideas I created and because I am smart. I work with companies and occasionally governments around the world to work and in the non-COVID era, I would travel to them. But even clients in places like Wyoming and Houston are hiring my firm because we have developed a way of approaching problems that works. So I mostly experience a world that is hungry for my ideas. But, I think your characterization of the general skepticism and fear of intellectuals or intellectually active people fits.