The role of intellectual at contemporary society

What does it mean to be an intellectual today? Actually, there is always a

distance between what something is and what it should be; I think that is an
interesting start point to discuss the role of intellectual at contemporary society.
First of all, nowadays, university has become more and more a
conservative space at society, where the critic thought has had a smaller
chance each day. The system of evaluation of searchers has been based on
numbers of publications at famous scientific magazines. However, these
magazines publish just what is according to the mainstream lines of search,
what means that there is no space to alternative ways of thinking, mainly if it is
a progressive one. Besides that, the financing of search projects is defined at
the same basis, that is, giving priority to researches that are considered
strategic; but strategic often means that it has some relation with profitability.
As a consequence, this kind of institutionality creates an army of
techniques and specialists who are no commitment with thinking about the
problems of our society and the alternatives to organizing it. Searchers have
been neglected in saying that the world could different and better than it is.
Instead of it, they are very concerned with their individual careers, the opinion
of the other pairs about them, the obtainment of financing for their projects. In
short, searchers concentrate their efforts at promoting themselves, less than
worrying about society.
Actually, intellectuals should be the critic conscience of society,
committed with its changing. Intellectual has the role of desmystifying the
accepted truths, that is, to prove that what is consider as natural is, actually,
something historically determinated, which means that it doesnt need to be
like that. Moreover, intellectuals must show how the devices of oppression work
out at our society, because it isnt easily apprehensible. If it were clear how the
system maintains us domesticated, it wouldnt be efficient.
At last, the perspectives for who wants to be an intellectual today is not
so good, and even it isnt possible to say that this kind of thinker could survive
in front of the pressures of universitys requirements. Maybe, from today on, the
critic think will just have space out of university, at some new place.