Historically, buccaneers were seen as reckless rebels. Their social status was ambiguous because nations failed to place them in an already existing social category or to accept them as part of their societies at all.

So I believe that the term “Buccaneer Scholar” has a negative connotation to it; it may even be a euphemism for what another would call a reckless intellectual. “Buccaneer Scholars” are looked upon as strange; the Spanish authorities even called buccaneers “heretics and interlopers,” but there really is a method to their madness (Wikipedia). What I make of a “Buccaneer Scholar” is a person whose mind breaches the norm in a way that alarms those who have been trained to think in a way set by said norm. A “Buccaneer Scholar” is an intellectual rebel – someone, as Bach writes, “whose mind is driven to wonder and find its own voice and place in the world” (8). “Buccaneer Scholars” neither need nor desire academic recognition from a society that shuns them; they believe that all one needs is the passion to learn. The way one shows this passion may seem unconventional, but if it works for the individual, he or she will be content. As the European governments put it, buccaneers are “hard to control” because they know no boundaries for acquiring the knowledge that they yearn for (Wikipedia).

The benefits of such a formulation include new inventions, theories for previously unexplainable events, or possibly an overall better global quality of life. Because the “Buccaneer Scholar” thinks so far out of the box, there is more room for discovery. However, there is also a limit for the “Buccaneer Scholars;” since their ways of thinking venture far beyond the borders of the norm, others leave little room for success. A student at Bach’s lecture raised a real concern with his question: “Isn’t it true that many employers won’t even consider you unless you have lots of formal education?” (3) To survive in today’s society, one must still hold a job – usually obtained with a degree attained through formal education – and with a job comes restrictions. The brilliance of a “Buccaneer Scholar” may be held back by rules made to keep a society structured and orderly. Instead of discovering the cure for cancer or how to stay alive on another planet, a “Buccaneer Scholar” will probably use this time working in a place that hinders the individual’s full potential, just trying to make a living.

“Buccaneer Scholars” truly break the mold that society expects of us. They experiment with their own intelligence, and like with any experiment, there are positive and negative reactions.