The Patchwork Intellectual

Patchwork intellectuals do not protest or endorse technological acceleration; they ride the waves of destruction wrought by disintermediation. They fall forward, sacrificing the twin pillars of security and prestige (which are now only shells) for advanced experiences of the socio-technical frontier. The comparative advantage of their new knowledge is its immanence, and its tractability. They furnish something like tour-guide materials for others still anchored in institutions; they relay what's coming down the pike, in the only way possible: by being subjected to it. They have multiple, typically modest income streams linked to their tour-guide functions, entertainer functions, educator functions, and still other functions. One's mission, one's identity, one's product(s), and one's platforms are patchy. The various functions are not hidden from each other, but they are modular, ready to be inflated or deflated as temperament and market demand. They do not reflect an alienating division but the opposite, an efficient and fluid reflection of the multiples we really are…