Jim Sharkey wrote:
>
> Julia Thompson wrote:
> >One major point is that smart != good.
>
> This is true. I know plenty of smart people that don't seem like
> they *think* before speaking or acting. This quote from the article,
> however, is bull: "We live in an age when pure intelligence is valued
> and honored beyond all bounds of reason."
>
> I'm not sure exactly what planet the author is living on, but it
> isn't this one. Smart people are reviled and despised by the portion
> of the population that isn't as smart. Being smart is an aberration;
> it sets you apart, and given human beings' innate xenophobia, it's
> still considered a Bad Thing (tm) by most people.
>
> At least that's been my observation for a long time. All I know is,
> when you're growing up, being smart is the biggest sin of all. Maybe
> there's a chicken/egg thing, where smart people start off with a
> certain amount of strikes against them in social settings, which only
> winds up feeding on itself. As a result, they withdraw further from
> the norm, which sets them further apart, and so on. *shrugs*
>
> Whatever the reason, that assertion is still bull.
One thing, though, a lot of the *parents* thought that pure intelligence
was the most important thing.
I don't know how well those kids like themselves, but given the report
of the 7-year-old, I don't think that child will be liked by peers very
much, and the parent is going to be stuck with an intelligent but
miserable person at some point. And I think the worst thing you can do
for your kid is rub other people's faces in how smart he or she is.
I was bright, I blew away most of my peers in a number of things, but if
my parents thought I was getting a swelled head about it, they took me
down a few pegs. And that is probably one of the best things they did
as my parents. And I found out in high school that there's stuff you
can do to be likeable, so that even if you're picked last in gym class,
the people picking the teams will help you figure out where you can do
the least harm, or the most good, and stick you *there* instead of some
place you're guaranteed to fail. (Speaking of gym class, ask me
sometime about the volleyball incident.)
Julia
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