heidegger and wittgenstein, but it now appears even derrida and foucault and deleuze, were artifacts of the modern era in the sense that they were geniuses comparable to beethoven or van gogh or pollock. the sciences had them too: the figures of infinite creativity and in the case of sci and phil, super-intelligence, intelligence as a super-power. that's why you can't understand what they say; they're on a different evolutionary plain.well one drawback of this amazing persona is that it encourages a kind of preening, a self-cultivation qua genius . giorgio agamben is someone i've read lately who is still inhabiting/impersonating this figure. well i like latour's version of the next step: christ, cut the crap and let's talk about something: you come off thinking what a disarming fellow rather than ohmygod i just almost caught a glimpse of the essence of being. but you do catch a glimpse of the essence of being.