Social Question

janbb's avatar

Whom do you have an intellectual crush on?

Asked by janbb (63219points) March 11th, 2017

That is, what scholar, scientist, writer or artist gets your neurotransmitters snapping, crackling and popping? I was reading a review of a biography of Oliver Sacks this morning. He was a neuroscientist who wrote with great compassion about people with differently abled or damaged brains. I love him for his writing and thinking – and for his hot looks as a motorcyclist in his youth.

Your brain’s crush?

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40 Answers

LostInParadise's avatar

Not that it should matter, but did you know that Oliver Sacks was gay?

janbb's avatar

@LostInParadise Sure I do. He’s also dead now.

canidmajor's avatar

It depends on the day. Most often now, it’s the author Octavia Butler, but some days it’s Dr. Michio Kaku, the astrophysicist.

ragingloli's avatar

Myself.
I am brilliant. I am not bragging, it is an objective fact. I am the most massive collection of wisdom that has ever existed, and I love myself.

janbb's avatar

@ragingloli So good to know. I have a wee intellectual crush on you too!

Dixon's avatar

Cornel West and Neil deGrasse Tyson.

Patty_Melt's avatar

Spock.
Oh, you probably want actual people. Well, we all have to admit, Spock is one of the sexiest brainiacs of all time, even though he only puts out once every seven years.
So, next, I guess, would be Neil DeGrasse Tyson.
He is approachable. He is out there, sharing and inspiring. He has a sense of humor. I liked his Nova episodes. I follow him on fb.

Patty_Melt's avatar

I’m afraid of loli.

stanleybmanly's avatar

Afraid is too severe. Wary is more along the lines of my reaction. I admit to a certain fascination, but can’t really decide whether or not lengthy exposure, say trapped in the seat next to Loli on a transatlantic flight, would be a plus or minus.

janbb's avatar

A little off topic but since we’re in Social, I would only sit next to loli on a transatlantic flight if I had tentacles with which to embrace him. (Just realized something about “transatlantic” – was it once the Pacific?)

Pachy's avatar

Anyone who doesn’t tweet.

canidmajor's avatar

Oooh, @Pachy, I don’t tweet!

ARE_you_kidding_me's avatar

Emily Dickinson

stanleybmanly's avatar

I don’t tweet either.

janbb's avatar

I am Tweetacus!

filmfann's avatar

Dorothy Parker.

RedDeerGuy1's avatar

Bob McDonald. Neil Degrasse Tyson. Carl Sagan. David Suzuki

cookieman's avatar

Edward Tufte

I too am sans tweet.

Zissou's avatar

Canadian cartoonist Kate Beaton (but she has a boyfriend now—darn)

Dutchess_III's avatar

Neil deGrasse Tyson, Eisenstein and Twain.

Cruiser's avatar

Lily Tomlin. One ringy dingy…two ringy dingy…sends me over the edge.

canidmajor's avatar

@Dutchess_III: Sergei or Charles?

Mimishu1995's avatar

Most of my crushes are intellectual ones. It’s just me who don’t care so much for appearance. Once I admire someone intellectually they become attractive.

Love_my_doggie's avatar

@pachy I’ve never had a Twitter account. Shall we run away together?

Sneki95's avatar

One dude from Quora, but he has a girl…
One Serbian poet, but he died a century ago…

I guess I’ve no luck with men.

Berserker's avatar

Charles Darwin. He was apparently a very jolly fella. And George Carlin, every time he swears I get a boner.

Patty_Melt's avatar

Ben Franklin. He studied women’s likes as thoroughly as his other areas of interest. I bet he was a relentless lover, but he pressed his energies in so many directions. I would have run myself breathless, watching him create, suppose, and zap himself unconcious playing with electricity.

Judi's avatar

Justin Trudeau. Not only is he easy on the eyes but he can talk quantum computing on the spot, is a social justice dynamo and can do a handstand on a table with his feet in the air. Basically the perfect man

funkdaddy's avatar

MMMMMmmmm… smart, funny ladies, who work hard. If you can deliver a dry one-liner that takes me a second to figure out… I’m pretty much yours. So my brain crushes tend to be comedians.

I’m looking at you Tina Fey, and Sarah Silverman. Amy Poehler, and Amy Schumer (definitely protagonist hot). I’m sure there’s others, but that’s who comes to mind.

Call me ladies.

Ok, not really, but if I was single. Then!

Ok, and well, if you were interested and looking for dudes on fluther, Then!

Well, I hope I’d at least get a private message.

ARE_you_kidding_me's avatar

^^you just nailed my celebrity crushes lol.

janbb's avatar

@funkdaddy If only you and about 10 other Fluther guys were available, I could come up with one liners a-plenty! (Although for many years I thought you were a woman, I still had a bit of a crush on you.)

cazzie's avatar

I just thought of one, finally. Eddie Izzard. I also think Dr. Brian Cox is hot. I love a smart man that tells a good story and makes me think and laugh. Oh! AND I would add Stephen Colbert, of course, if he weren’t so strangely Catholic.. that creeps me out and takes him out of the running.

Brian1946's avatar

Mel Mermelstein and William Cox.

Mermelstein is a Jewish survivor of the Nazi Holocaust who sued the Institute for Historical Review, an organization claiming the Holocaust never happened. The IHR’s standard tactic was to post a reward to anyone who could prove the Holocaust’s occurrence, then ignore all petitioners and claim that no one had presented any proof, thus ensuring themselves publicity and credibility.

However, Cox, a public interest attorney, noted that this kind of lying represented a breach of contract, which left the IHR open to a lawsuit. Using this bold legal strategy, Mermelstein presented his proof, the IHR took the bait, and Mermelstein took them to court.

Not only did Mermelstein have to battle the neo-nazis in court, but outside as well when they tried to intimidate him to drop the case.

Mermelstein and Cox ultimately won, which lead to the Holocaust’s occurrence being declared a legally incontestable fact.

Brian1946's avatar

@cazzie

I just saw Colbert interview Niel Tyson and thankfully their discussion contained zero Catholicism.

Colbert was surprisingly knowledgeable about exploring exoplanets using nano-probes riding laser-driven sails, which could reach a velocity of 59,520 km/second.

cazzie's avatar

@Brian1946 The laser sail idea has been around for just over a year. http://physicstoday.scitation.org/do/10.1063/PT.5.2035/full/

I just watched that episode with my kid. We love NGT. Neil, unlike some obnoxious science guys, doesn’t bother to argue about faith issues unless they get in the way of legislation and funding. You heard his reaction to the CO2 debate in that interview. His reaction is the same with religion. ‘Say and believe what you want and I won’t get in your way, so don’t use your shit to get in my way.’ sort of attitude. Otherwise people just waste waaaaay too much time banging heads against brick walls.

funkdaddy's avatar

@janbb – Thanks! I’m sure we could banter away ;)

Danebiggs's avatar

Samantha Bee from that show Full Frontal.
I’m kind of a liberal minded guy and she seems very passionate and energetic about issues.
Anyway, I had a fantasy about her and I having sex and she was telling me her political views during it and we kept going and going until we were both shaking and hyperventilating and eventually we passed out in each others arms.
I think she’s kinda funny too. : )

dappled_leaves's avatar

I guess my current intellectual crush is Arthur Conan Doyle. Past ones have included Richard Feynman, Jonathan Miller (he and Oliver Sacks were close friends, actually), and May Sarton.

janbb's avatar

@dappled I’ll join your list. Oh – Alan Bennett is another.

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