Intellectuals can be divided into those who pursue intellectual activity freely, and those who engage primarily in intellectual labor.  Intellectuals of the first variety act as a free spirit or a floating brain, who, under the shelter of a defender such as a university, artistic school, a prayer group, or other form of intellectual community, represent the creative brain power of society or a network of freedom.  Intellectual labor, though appearing with all the trappings of an intellectual, bear much greater scrutiny from hierarchal superiors, and engage much more in repetitive tasks hardly different, with slight modifications for technique, from those done centuries earlier.

As for relation between the intellectual and the politically powerful, either category can produce politically powerful leaders.  This comes when intellectual power is united with military force.  Once abstract ideas become the basis for concrete orders carried out by living bodies and machines.  A floating brain in an acquarium in a military base can centralize the strategy for a war of eternal significance.  Neural networks form the core of the organization of organs within bodies, while communication networks form the core of governing bodies which in turn move societies.

Human society, unlike many species of trees, has not yet evolved to the point of staying rooted in one place for centuries, with migrations uprooting societies across the world. Trees grow to much larger sizes and masses, live for many centuries, and many ways capture the essence of unity with all the creatures of the world and eternal life.  Yet their diet of soil, water, and air is much simpler.  If human beings were not so divided by conflict, they could remain rooted in their locations and develop permanent structures of much larger proportions.

Ironically, the largest structure in the world, in terms of volume, is the Boeing Everett Factory, built in 1966-67, which manufactures large jet-liners that make human transportation far more efficient.  The hope, it seems, comes from the idea that with more freedom of travel, every individual might find his own ideal location and thus settle more permanently.  The world’s largest building, in terms of floor space, with equally fitting irony, is Abraj Al-Bait Clock Tower, in Mecca, known as the destination for one of the world’s largest pilgramages.  It is also the world’s tallest hotel, for welcoming with hospitality travelers from every region of the world.