Neal Stephenson's alternate-universe conception of the academy has the architecture of a medieval university but the mindset of a classical academy. He manages to exclude the factory mindset so rapidly encroaching on so much of the turf in this universe, but fails to engage a much deeper controversy between those who view the life of the mind as a retreat from the world and those who see it as a deliberate engagement with as much of reality as possible. We can clearly see where Stephenson's sympathies lie by how much more closely he is able to paint the interior of his cloisters than the world outside them.

Here we have so fully confused the issue that we get few of the benefits of either approach. Modern academics have very little time for contemplation, and far too much of their work is in the service of the demands of society, which is growing more frivolous, distracted, and violent-minded by the day, to judge by the sorts of ideas that occupy front and center stage of our public lives. Rational arguments are drowned out in the mindless scream. They have a voice, of course, and many people hear it, but the effort of trying to filter out the dreck closes the ears to new ideas.

I'm still glad to be here, and thankful to the people who educated me. It's a good thing to have a strong mind that can stand up for itself, and a strong mind is something that can be passed on to other people, regardless of how talented they are. You don't have to be smart to think for yourself. But you do have to fight for it. Human societies only exist because there is some tendency in the mind to act with the group. That tendency gives rise to internal resistance and external pressure, because other humans feel the same desires. There will always be a tension between the university and culture; the question is how to respond to it.