It sort of goes both ways, really. It's just that academics are trained to see their isolation from those elements of society that less intellectual people enjoy as being a sign of their superiority. Conversely, less intellectual, or more accurately less educated people tend to feel that academics are out of touch and don't know as much as they think they do about what really matters, and thus are seen as inferior. It's a reverse form of snobbery, but both points are not entirely invalid. It's a communications barrier, almost a class barrier. It is not a sign of innate superiority. It's a sign of failure of both parties to understand and appreciate the value of one another's continued influence.

As well, it's not an either/or situation. There are many shades of grey between the high and the low brow intellect. We just tend to accent to two extremes, as we would any other classist issue.

Lee.