Some people look down on “intellectuals” but I for one think it would be cool to become one when I grow up.  Can you imagine having that on your business card?  I bet I could win any argument on SM if only I was labeled an intellectual.  Punks would step-off in a hurry.  SM tipster Kanchan sends us Prospect Magazine’s list of the world’s top 100 intellectuals.  The Hindustan Times reports on the Indians (I didn’t see any other South Asian candidates on the list):

Amidst brewing criticism, an opinion poll has been launched to select five top intellectuals in the world from a list of 100 names, which include five Indians.

The Indians among the world’s leading 100 contemporary public intellectuals are Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen, 71, economist and author, Jagdish Bhagwati, economist, Salman Rushdie, 58, novelist and commentator, Fareed Zakaria, 41, editor of Newsweek International and author and Kishore Mahbubani, 57, Singapore-based diplomat and author.

The list which has only 10 women, includes India’s Sunita Narain, 44, developmental environmentalist. The readers’ opinion poll, published by British magazine “Prospect” and American global affairs magazine “Foreign Policy”, closes Oct 10 and results will be declared in November. Readers have also been invited to nominate their own candidates as well.

In its poll definition of public intellectuals “Prospect” and “Foreign Policy” say it is “someone who has shown distinction in their own field along with the ability to communicate ideas and influence debate outside of it.”

“This list is about public influence, not intrinsic achievement. And that is where things get really tricky. Judging influence is hard enough inside one’s own culture, but when you are peering across cultures and languages, the problem becomes far harder. Obviously our list of 100 has been influenced by where most of us sit, in the English-speaking West.”

You can actually go to the website and vote for your five favorite intellectuals.  Chomsky’s the early front-runner.  It’s sort of like American Idol in that way.  It would be cool if they did a final brain battle on live television or something but probably nobody would tune in since intellectuals always get a bad rap.  There was that one Simpson’s episode I remember when the intellectuals took control of Springfield only to be overthrown by simpletons.  Anyways check out the list.  I found it fun to identify pairs that would make for an entertaining intellectual death-match.