<p>Since you all seem to be such good debaters, I thought Id throw this slightly inflammatory question out there. As a Californian, we are often portrayed as being shallow and intellectually lacking. This may be true, but we probably look better in a bathing suit than you, and thats whats really important. KIDDING! Anyway, I know someone here who comes from the east coast, who cant wait to go back where people are more intellectual, I guess. I dunno. I’m not even sure what that means. Is intellectual the same as intellegent? To me, east coasters often come off as snooty and looking down their noses at us. I had an east coast friend who had this really infuriating habit of smiling smugly rather than making any sort of reply if he felt that my opinion wasnt worthy (my interpretation of course). </p>
<p>This is a generalization, of course, and may be something that people dont want to tackle due to the chance of dissolving into a flame war. I am really curious though whether people from other parts of the country found the east coasters to be somewhat smug, and whether that was hard to deal with.</p>
<p>Of course. But I’m talking about how you would generally view the population. I don’t think in general that Californians are viewed that way. We have other faults. Asking stupid questions, for instance.</p>
<p>“I thought I’d throw this slightly inflammatory question out there”</p>
<p>Has it occurred to you the controversies you start here will precede your arrival on campus next fall? Trust me, the Tufts Brigade will find you. Eastern snobs can be merciless, he says with superior nose in air ;)</p>
<p>You might want to revise your question to “mid to northern easterners”
as stereotypically (and truthfully) shown, us southerners are ANYTHING but snobs!
Sidenote: I’m not applying to a single school in my state, Georgia, or the south!
But no, I dont think east-coast-ers are snobbier than the typical person.</p>
<p>It’s like, like you know, so bad, like to see all these east coasters, like, worry themselves to death over, like, petty things, you know? That being said, Norcal > Socal.</p>
<p>Snuffles is right. NorCal is more intellectual than SoCal. I’ve spent enough time in SoCal to realise that it’s not the East Coast, which makes me long for the sounds of the Atlantic.</p>
<p>Intellectual people, IMO, regardless of intelligence, are thoughtful, informed people who talk about things other than the latest fashions. Non-intellectual people can hold opinions, but are unable to back them up or to discuss the philosophical, legal, ethical, moral (etc) beliefs behind them. </p>
<p>You can walk into a group of intellectual types and say, “What do you guys think about Prop. 85?” and get a dozen different responses, based on everything from analogies to other health care rules to a sociological breakdown of the effects of such laws in other states. A bunch of intelligent, non-intellectuals may tell you how they voted or quote someone else, but will have given little thought to the issue and not have gone out of their way to learn about it.</p>
<p>I’m sure you look better in a bathing suit than I do. (The only time I looked good in a bikini was during 2L year of law school when I was too stressed to eat. Alas, life has calmed down and I am back to being jealous of SoCal girls.)</p>
<p>Being from the suburbs of NYC, I can honestly say that I know a few people who fit your stereotype. However, this stereotype is not really consistant with the majority of the people I know. I think the major difference between east and west coast people comes from the way of living. In my opinion, I think people from the west coast are more “laid back,” comparing to the sterotypical new yorker as being overly stressed. In terms of getting into college, I think west coasters have a better shot of getting into tufts, as NY is one of the most competitive states for students, and tufts is on the east coast.</p>
<p>The difference between us easties and the Cali kids is that the Cali kids (this goes for Floridians too) are known to wear flip flops even in three feet of snow. Now, I love my flip flops, but I know when it’s time to put the boots on. Strangely, the warm-weather kids never get sick, while I currently have a lost voice despite a full length down coat and fur hat. LOL.</p>
<p>The difference between us easties and the Cali kids is that the Cali kids (this goes for Floridians too) are known to wear flip flops even in three feet of snow. Now, I love my flip flops, but I know when it’s time to put the boots on. Strangely, the warm-weather kids never get sick, while I currently have a lost voice despite a full length down coat and fur hat. LOL.</p>
<p>Funny you should say that about the weather, Bluirinka. I just met someone from New Jersey the other day, and she was complaining about how she wasn’t expecting it to be so cold here. I said, Are you kidding? Isn’t it 40 degrees or something right now in NJ. She said, Yeah, but the difference between 40 and 50 isn’t that great. (!?) We’re all wearing our flipflops and light jackets here. MAYBE it gets in the 50s in the morning, but by afternoon it’s sunny and nice (maybe a little brisk).</p>
<p>Anyway, interesting definition of ‘intellectual’, Ariesathena. (“thoughtful, informed people who talk about things other than the latest fashions”).</p>
<p>Most of us west coasters see ‘intellectual’ as being perhaps more negative than ‘intelligent’. Intellectual people talk, and intelligent people do. (Uh oh, what am I getting myself into here???)</p>
<p>Anyway, here is a perfect example of what we west coasters might label as intellectual, and in a negative way. This comes from the Tuftslife web site, and describes one of the latest dance concerts:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Ok, the string quartet sounds cool, but wt#f does “explores intersections and contrasts between his material and the performers’ solutions to movement problems” mean? It sounds like a bunch of hooey to me. It’s a bunch of words strung together that don’t mean anything, but sound really good. I really tried to parse that phrase in my head, and got no where. “Intersection” has a specific meaning, and I know I probably need to figure out what the two sets are to picture the intersection. One set must be {the choreographers material} and the other is {the performers solutions to movement problems}. Ok, problem one is, what on earth is the second set??? They have a problem moving? And problem two is how do you find an intersection there? I hate it when people don’t think about what they write in order to sound more high-falutin’ (sp?).</p>
<p>Is this actually an east coast/west coast example? I dunno. Would they describe a dance at UCLA this way? Maybe, though I tend to think not. Maybe we can blame the whole thing on dancer’s mentality anyway.</p>
Alas, life has calmed down and I am back to being jealous of SoCal girls.)</p>