miss
November15th 2013
In “Anti-Intellectualism: Why We Hate the Smart Kids”, Grant Penrod makes the argument that academic achievement should be rewarded just as much if not more than athletic achievement. He gives out on the fact that today’s society tends to glorify non-intellectuals, such as athletes and celebrities, while the intellectually skilled individuals get left on the sidelines with little recognition for their accomplishments. The intellectuals, typically seen as “nerds” or “losers “it’s so sad. As Penrod puts it, “the result of anti-intellectualism is a crushing disregard for the lives and achievements of fellow human beings” (Penrod 755). Basically what he is saying is that through these anti-intellectual practices, people seem to be going out of their way to put down other individuals successes. Instead of being seen in a positive light, there is an offensive for intellectuals that have become a big part of our society. Why is this? Perhaps, once again using high school as an example, students who are less academically inclined are jealous of their peers academic successes, or maybe they just simply cannot relate to them. Penrod says: “the trend to dislike intellectuals stems at least in part from an inescapable perception that concern for grades…excludes the coexistence of normal social activity” (Penrod 755). What this essentially means is that among the many ideas of intellectuals is that they are in getting perfect grades, test scores, etc., that they are just nerds who have no social lives. Penrod goes on to say that this false idea leads to an “unbreakable cycle”, because many of these intellectuals are not actually able to make leaps and bounds socially due to the fact that they are excluded from the society. I
In “Anti-Intellectualism: Why We Hate the Smart Kids”, Grant Penrod makes the argument that academic achievement should be rewarded just as much if not more than athletic achievement. He gives out on the fact that today’s society tends to glorify non-intellectuals, such as athletes and celebrities, while the intellectually skilled individuals get left on the sidelines with little recognition for their accomplishments. The intellectuals, typically seen as “nerds” or “losers “it’s so sad. As Penrod puts it, “the result of anti-intellectualism is a crushing disregard for the lives and achievements of fellow human beings” (Penrod 755). Basically what he is saying is that through these anti-intellectual practices, people seem to be going out of their way to put down other individuals successes. Instead of being seen in a positive light, there is an offensive for intellectuals that have become a big part of our society. Why is this? Perhaps, once again using high school as an example, students who are less academically inclined are jealous of their peers academic successes, or maybe they just simply cannot relate to them. Penrod says: “the trend to dislike intellectuals stems at least in part from an inescapable perception that concern for grades…excludes the coexistence of normal social activity” (Penrod 755). What this essentially means is that among the many ideas of intellectuals is that they are in getting perfect grades, test scores, etc., that they are just nerds who have no social lives. Penrod goes on to say that this false idea leads to an “unbreakable cycle”, because many of these intellectuals are not actually able to make leaps and bounds socially due to the fact that they are excluded from the society. I