<p>To me, “intellectual” is the confusion between work and play. My friends playing Super Mario were “intellectual” because they transitioned from obvious play to “work” without even noticing it. It didn’t matter what they said, but that they made academic work for themselves where they didn’t have to is key.</p>
<p>The vast majority of students (I hesitate to say all, because I’m sure there are students here for the wrong reasons) to come to Chicago even though they know they’re going to be working harder than they have to. They don’t have to come here if they don’t want to, and maybe part of what bugs me about the initiative to increase applications is that we’ve seen that not a lot of students want to come here. It’s good that people have figured out for themselves that this is not the place for them, and the importance of prestige and rank is not overtaking that.</p>