[bluekeybox]

> I think I am saying something non-trivial about academics and their perspective on language.

I became convinced that there is a strain of thought, one that is especially pervasive in the academia, which believes that knowledge/meaning is something irreducible and almost mystical. It probably has to do with the fact that people who fetishize knowledge as something incredibly worthwhile for its own sake end up being overrepresented in the academia. Those who are a bit more cynical/nihilistic tend to go into finance or start their own companies.

The old advice "do not make any gods to be alongside me" is still relevant except for the "alongside me" part, which probably only has any meaning if you consider yourself religious. I have a feeling that many academicians, especially the old-school ones, idolize knowledge to the extent of ascribing to it god-like powers even if said knowledge has little relevance for anything practical.