Does society hate smart people?

[Anti-Racism]

Western society is not set up to nurture intelligent children and adults, the way it dotes over athletes and sports figures, especially the outstanding ones. While we have the odd notable personality such as Albert Einstein, we also have many extremely intelligent people working in occupations that are considered among the lowliest, as may be attested by a review of the membership lists of Mensa (the club for the top two percent on intelligence scales).

http://www.scribd.com/doc/8778/Why-Intelligent-People-Tend-To-Be-Unhappy

Smart people make the customers look stupid. That's bad for business. Make people feel bad about being smart, put them in shitty jobs, and intimidate them so they don't breed. Oh, our society's failing? MUST NOT BE A CONNECTION, YO.

[firefox]

I just read a chapter in a book I have to read for a class on the American revolution, and it goes back at least to the 18th century. The bottom line is, this is a trend that has been going on for hundreds of years.

[Drocket]

'Hate' is a massive overstatement. Its more that American culture doesn't value intelligence, and more importantly, doesn't value learning. This is an extremely old problem in our country, one that comes from a lot of the original settlers of our country. While utilitarian learning such as math and literacy (all the better to read the Bible, you know) were considered good, anything beyond that was considered suspicious. A lot of the people were, after all, fleeing Europe during the Renaissance, what with all the icky, godless science going on (Earth not the center of the universe? Ha! As if.)

[Pookie]

Hmmm. That's an interesting question. My answer to the question, though, would have to be a resounding "NO!" I'm a smart person, and at least I have never experienced anyone being hateful or resentful of me either in my personal life or my workplace.
I do think that certain elements of society might resent smart people, and I have seen that happen to some before. I do think Americans value learning and intelligence, for many times either a high school diploma or a college degree is needed to get many higher-paying jobs. I've often heard people complain that they couldn't get this job or that job because they don't have a diploma or degree, and most people who complain about that usually have a million excuses why they can't get a GED or degree.
But I think society does value learning and intelligence, and most of all, appreciates those who give to the company in terms of experience and new ideas.
And the argument will go from here, "Well, so-and-so is a millionaire/billionaire and he/she doesn't have a GED..." blah, blah, blah. For every one of those, there are many more out there who are educated and have put their skills to work for them.
Purrs,
Pookie

[Truth_and_Power]

Western society is not set up to nurture intelligent children and adults, the way it dotes over athletes and sports figures, especially the outstanding ones. While we have the odd notable personality such as Albert Einstein, we also have many extremely intelligent people working in occupations that are considered among the lowliest, as may be attested by a review of the membership lists of Mensa (the club for the top two percent on intelligence scales).

http://www.scribd.com/doc/8778/Why-Intelligent-People-Tend-To-Be-Unhappy

Smart people make the customers look stupid. That's bad for business. Make people feel bad about being smart, put them in shitty jobs, and intimidate them so they don't breed. Oh, our society's failing? MUST NOT BE A CONNECTION, YO.


I would have to agree with you to some degree. I was able to do any kind of addition/subtraction problem, as well as basic multiplication before I entered kindergarten. Once each successive teacher realized this, I was not asked to do any real math work in school until 3rd grade. So instead of educating me proportional to my abilities, they educated the rest of the thumb-sucking dullards until they were able to approximate my abilities. This is often the case with the most intelligent people. In addition to the basic scenario mentioned above, where ignoring those with the most potential is done out of laziness, often it is done out of resentment. Let's face it, $30K/year, rude kids, potential lawsuits from angry parents -- the best and brightest have only moral convictions that would draw them to teach. Many of the teachers in our school system are there because they went to college and nothing else worked for them. They never found an occupation that inspired them, and they never really latched on to anything. Or if they did, they failed. And anyone with a bachelor's can get a job teaching, forever. So you have these people who are just smart enough to drag through college and have been dealing with a job that would make anyone resent children for twenty years. Now they've got some kid in their class who understands the 1-hour lesson about 2 minutes after you start teaching it and starts making a joke or getting distracted by something. Who do you think the teacher is going to take it out on? What are the chances this child is going to get 60 minutes of learning in the whole day?

[Buck Laser]

The great American Western Myth about the highly educated tenderfoot not being able to survive in the wilderness while rougher men had the common sense to do so still resonates with Americans. We take great pleasure in our athletes, pop stars, and NASCAR guys because they seem to be people "just like us." People who for whatever reason don't accept pop culture totally are considered at the least, weird or dangerous--or boring.

I think it was back in Nixon's first term that he tried to appoint some dumbfuck to the Supreme Court--a guy whom most of the other judges and lawyers considered to be mediocre at best. The guy didn't win nomination, but a senator named Roman Hruska, from Nebraska I think, argued that "mediocre people ought to be represented, too."

One of the things I've always admired about the Jewish culture is the high value it seems to place on its scholars and teachers. I wish the rest of us could do as well.

[underdawg]

I think certain sections of society look down on intelligence. In high school for example some girls will not study as hard because for some girls being smarter than boys is not seen as sexy. My niece has apparently learned this from her mother.

For about nine years I worked at the Port of Tacoma unloading railcars. It was a hard physical labor job and most of the guys I worked with were black. I asked some of the guys if they had concidered going to college and I was surprised when I was told that it was looked down upon in their circle of friends because it was considered "selling out". They would accuse more famous weathy blacks as "trying to act white" and forgetting where they came from. However it was seen as totally acceptable to become rich by playing professional sports.

[crimzonsol]

People in general hate people who are smarter than them. My IQ is in the 99th percentile and my councilor at my school has essentialy screwed me over. I have been placed in regular classes instead of advanced classes and I can't get in to advanced classes because they have all filled up in the time it took her to "talk to my teachers". In class it has gotten to the point where I am told to shut up so that other people can anwser the question, where I hand in an assignment and my teacher picks it up gives me an A and hands it back to me. I am not resented by anybody in those classes because I help them to understand what is going on, I also help my friends who are in advanced and AP courses with their work.

America does not hate smart people, America want smart people to build the hoops that they jump through.

American wants all people to be the equal. The Same. No Extremes.
America has taken the honorable goal of making everyone equal before the Law and applied it to every other section of life. We want everyone to be "equal" nobody smarter than the average and nobody stupider than the average.

All humans have equal rights and equal standing before the law, but everyone is not equal in their abilities and the sooner people realize that then the sooner America can actually become the best country in the world.

America also needs to realise that being stupid is not attractive, but that is for another time.

[underdawg]

It all comes down to parents and teachers. If our elders encourage and praise children to do better they will. I have had favorite teachers in my life who treated me with respect and told me that if I tried I could do anything. It was those teachers that I worked my ass off for because I respected them and wanted to put out my best effort for.

[crimzonsol]

I disagree underdawg, I think it has too come from the students themselves. Otherwise it will only be the individuals who benefit, not America.

[moses2792796]

It starts with education. The modern education system is designed to hold intelligent people back and try to bring retards up to the plate, a levelling out almost. It promotes non-existent equality. Intelligent children in school are made to feel bad for their gift, not just by other students. Nothing is done to ensure the continuation of an intellectual elite.

[April15]

As America advertisers promote bigger and faster images of what you are supposed to have, intelligence is the one thing never mentioned and most surely not wanted. Violence and power seem to permeate daily life at the expense of education and good sense. It is as if America is regressing into some kind of revival of the survival of the fittest mode.

[moses2792796]

More like survival of the dumbest, let's face facts, they breed faster.

[Pookie]

It IS survival of the dumbest. My job starts at $80,000 a year. Not only do I work security sites, but I also build protocols and I am a security consultant for several companies and many private (in-home) security forces. I have two degrees: one in engineering, and one in criminal justice. I understand certain people who do, in fact, do not educate themselves because of "selling out" and "acting white."
What these people fail to remember is that when they march in my office demanding a job for which they are not qualified and feed me that horsepoo about "selling out", etc., etc, I ask them, "So you're a high school dropout and you want this job? Okay, I'll give you a chance. Tell me why you're the best person for this job in fifty words or less." I hand them a piece of paper and a pencil, give them 30 minutes, and I am lucky if I can read it with all the misspellings and grammatical errors. The message is all the same: "I am (pick a minority) and I got no education but I can do this because you are supposed to hire minorities," or something to that effect.
The very first thing I look at is their spelling and grammar. If they do not choose to write correctly, I cannot trust them to speak correctly or follow instructions. Those who insist they can do the job with no education are the ones I have fun with the most -- I will give them a day doing the job, and I have NEVER seen one get past lunchtime.
My answer is still a resounding NO, because I have been there with these morons who think they can do anything. The fact is, they can't. I've never seen one who could. Many come close, but not one makes the grade unless he or she has had the proper education.
Purrs,
Pookie

[AlanC]

Being smart is a good thing.

Having common sense is a better thing.

Being smart with a high degree of common sense will enable you to go very far and with a minimum of resentment.

I have known some extremely smart people who are almost functionally illiterate. Being smart is different from assuming you are smart and both of them are no guarantee that any one has the ability to use those smarts to achieve productive ends, much less greatness.