What do we mean when we say sophistication?
What is one quality that is more important than all others of the sophisticated person?
Is sophistication defined by excellence in education, by a multitude of close friends, or by financial success? What is it?
We mean it flatters the preconceptions of the upper middle classes.
I’d say it has to do with an ability to illuminate concepts for the widest range of people. For example an ‘expert’ may not be sophisticated as if you take him out of his field, whereas a sophisticated person can talk to nearly everyone and connect different concepts so as to engage in a thought-provoking discussion – whether it be about dog shit or Aristotelian Ethics.
The sophisticated are involved in much.
I’ve asked this a million times:
Why when we call something sophisticated do we mean it as a good thing, but when we call a person a sophist we mean it as a bad thing?