[Ads-l] Fw: Thinking class / Cognitive class / Knowledge class

[Z S]

Just confirmed a suspicion: in the documentary *Spies of Mississippi*, one
of the witnesses states that her uncle, B.L. Bell, referred to his class as
"the thinking class people". (I just went back and scrubbed through the
film to check.)

(Timestamp 17:07 to 17:42)

https://youtu.be/JX925i-llQk?feature=shared&t=1027

These terms sound as antiquated as they are. Interesting - to say the least
- that they're so freely used today by the media.

Best,
Zola Sohna

On Tue, Feb 6, 2024 at 8:43 PM Emily Gordon <emdashes at gmail.com> wrote:

> I suspect you all would enjoy this 1905 article, "Cerebrasthenia the Bane
> of the American Brain-Worker" (E. Van Goidtsnoven, A.M., M.D., Atlanta J
> Rec Med. 1905 Jan; 6[10]: 658–663).
>
> It opens: "I think I voice the sentiments of the medical profession when I
> state that cerebrasthenia is the bane of the American brain-worker. To the
> least attentive observer of vital statistics and mortality tables the
> appalling fact stands aghast and unchallenged, that in the early and
> subsequent constant struggle, whether it be for honors and riches, or
> simply for an existence, twenty years of brain work, although possibly
> eventuating in the successful achievement of the desired end, but too often
> result in cerebral bankruptcy, in presenile debility, and in physical as
> well as in mental prostration. Under those circumstances, virility
> ill-supported by a previous vigorous youth, is narrowed down to a few years
> of constant exhaustive struggle and prematurely merges into a pitiable
> condition of early and unseasonable decline and decay."
>
> Dietary remedy from the good doctor: " The diet should be restricted to
> warm fluids, such as milk alone or with arrowroot, gruel, beef tea, etc.
> Milk and Apollinaris water constitute an excellent diet. Meat should be
> stricken out entirely from the dietary until the patient has made
> considerable improvement."
>
> https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8952586/?page=1
>
> On Tue, Feb 6, 2024 at 11:00 AM Shapiro, Fred <fred.shapiro at yale.edu>
> wrote:
>
> > "Knowledge worker" is pretty old, OED has it back to 1962.
> >
> > Fred Shapiro
> >
> >
> > ________________________________
> > From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of
> > Emily Gordon <emdashes at GMAIL.COM>
> > Sent: Tuesday, February 6, 2024 1:47 PM
> > To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Subject: Re: Thinking class / Cognitive class / Knowledge class
> >
> > I first saw the term "knowledge workers" in David Allen's productivity
> book
> > "Getting Things Done" (2001). Very patronizing! I'm sure "desk workers"
> > goes back a lot longer.
> >
> > On Tue, Feb 6, 2024 at 10:01 AM Z S <zrice3714 at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > > In the recent discussions surrounding emerging technologies, I've heard
> > > these three terms (the first time in my life), and I was shocked that
> > these
> > > terms even exist (and that they're used so freely).
> > >
> > > Wondering if these are recently coined, or much older...
> > >
> > > Best,
> > > Zola S.
> > >
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