Why is everyone trying so hard to seem smart these days?

Why is everyone trying so hard to seem smart these days? We're witnessing the rise of the intellectual economy, and I'm going to explain why. Culture's starting to reward depth. There are now a plethora of Instagram accounts, a lot of critical thinking, and self-examination. People are attending philosophy meetups in Brooklyn. Kierkegaard has officially entered meme culture. Reading isn't something people just do anymore. It's become performative. Consumerism is changing. Making custom Japanese denim in Tokyo... I can convince you to do one thing in Japan: selvedge. Or knowing how to correctly pronounce Loewe. Loewe. These things don't just, well, communicate wealth. They communicate expertise. And this helps explain why niche brands have become so culturally powerful. It's not about advertising status, it's about signaling cultural fluency. There's a movement on social media to bring back gatekeeping. I'm a proud gatekeeper. That's how depth has become so valuable. The internet has completely erased the cost of learning. And with AI, any fact or explanation can be generated within seconds. And that changes how society values information. Scarcity creates value. Information is effectively infinite, isn't it? We consume more content than ever, while spending less and less time actually thinking about it. And that, to me, sums up the intellectual economy perfectly. We're all just looking for a POV that wasn't prompted. Brands build around thoughtful ideas and influencers who are smart. These aren't just hot trends. They're just what we've come to deem everything valuable when everything else has become commoditized.