When did being educated become a bad thing?
When did actually knowing what you are doing/ what you are talking about become bad? There seems to be a bias against intellectuals because they actually understand something that is complex which might actually disagree with “common sense”. There are things in this world that Joe six-pack will not understand, so why is it those who do understand are somehow the villains? Shouldn’t that role go the the people who make no effort to educate themselves and insist that what the believe/know must be so?
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36 Answers
We are a sexually motivated world. Im afraid that all else has fallen by the way side.
A question back at you….have you ever met a person that is intellectual and has common sense? this type person is a rare breed. i agree with you about Joe Six Pack.
I love this quote of my friend who goes to UCB: “Most of the people I’ve met who say ‘I’m street smart, not book smart’ are actually just really dumb.”
I think the issue is that people feel that those who are “intellectuals” are missing out on common sense or so called “street smarts”. In my opinion, the most intelligent people are the ones who have both. So-called “common sense” doesn’t always trump education at all. Especially since a lot of people disagree on what qualifies as “common sense” in the first place.
Then there’s the issue of many educated people and intellectuals being arrogant and condescending. That would make anyone not like them and I could certainly understand that.
And then of course, there’s the whole issue of plain old envy. People are envious of those who are more intelligent than them, plain and simple. Of course, I consider most envy to be a waste of time unless you actually plan on improving yourself. But I don’t agree that education has become a bad thing. It has become a bad thing in the eyes of people who are missing the big picture and who are jealous of those who are educated. That’s not the way to go.
I know plenty of people who are intelligent and well educated and also have common sense. This describes most of the people I have studied with and worked with and lived with in my life. The notion of the brilliant professor who can’t scramble eggs or find his way out of a parking spot is just another cheap stereotype inviting insecure people to laugh at those who have some accomplishments.
When politicians started to appeal directly to the lowest common denominator.
I disagree with the premise of your question. I don’t think being educated is a bad thing. I don’t think i is regarded as a bad thing in very man segments of our society.
I think you are hanging out with the wrong kind of people.
Since when did it become a bad thing?
@Rude_Bear Sometimes when I listen to a politician speak, I really feel that they are insulting my intelligence. Do they really expect us to believe all that crap? (And yes, this is from both major parties in the U.S.)
I have not found your premise to be true, I think education is valued and valuable.
I do feel that comments such as “Joe six-pack” are condescending. If that is the attitude you project perhaps that is the reason why others do not value your greater knowledge and intellect.
There has always been and will always be an underlying sentiment of anti-intellectualism in many cultures. Just balance out your textbook intellect with practical skills and tell the haters to kiss your ass. Works well enough for me ;-)
I was unaware that it had become a bad thing.
@rooeytoo : Joe Six-pack is generally accepted vernacular for “Your average Joe”. Any condescension is soly your own creation.
April 16, 2000. At around 8:30 in the morning, Eastern Time. When you-know-who was President.
I dunno me and my friends seem to look down on ignorance. Maybe you need some friends like Me.
@Rude_Bear – The phrase has a derogatory connotation as indicated here. It is not true that “Any condescension is soly your own creation.” You would not use it as a compliment.
If you are educated and if this is your attitude, I’d say it is no wonder you are being viewed as a villain or simply living up to your user name.
I don’t know when, but I do know why..
When the educated intellectuals began to think their intellect gave them the right to call those of us less educated folks who rely on our common sense more than our book learning shit like “Joe Six Pack” When educated became synonymous with arrogant.
I’ve not found that being educated is a bad thing. That may be due to the way I was raised and the people with whom I associate, but I don’t think it’s true as a generalization.
As for common sense and the highly educated, again I disagree. My husband is the most intelligent person I know and has amazing common sense. He is also “street smart” and I would trust him in any situation. His brother is not as book-smart (although still smart) and his common sense is a bit lacking.
Perhaps it’s not so much about education as it is being anti-curiosity and creativity.
Common sense may be common, but all too often, it isn’t very sensible. People love to rely on common sense, but far too often, when you research what common wisdom is, it turns out to be wrong. That’s why we do research.
Know-nothing attitudes, I think, are understandable as justifications for not getting more education. They are not, however, a very effective way of doing well in life, compared to those who make informed and well-researched decisions.
I really have no idea. It makes no sense.
Probably right about the time people realized that highly educated people were the “haves” and the rest were the “have nots”. That always generates hostility.
The religious right has done the most to promote the notion that the well educated are the enemies of Christianity and therefore deserve contempt. They have a vested interest in ignorance because those who ask no questions and believe as they are told will be never challenge the stranglehold they have on all the “right” answers.
They equate high education with elitism and socialism and the attack on “family values.”
The eight years of the Dubya administration were characterised by “knowing the truths” instead of seeking the facts. The out and out lies perpetrated on the American populous allowed fearmongering to justify abrogation of constitutional rights and the imposition of new policies last seen in the former Soviet Union.
As long as the radical right gets away with celebrating uncommon ignorance as common sense and American values, educated people will be seen as enemies of the common people.
Such anti-intellectualism will keep America the butt of international disdain and disrespect.
In the EU and Great Britain, advanced education is viewed as a thing of value.
The highest level of citizenship is questionning your representatives and the policies they vote for and against. It is not possible for those who value blind patriotism over advanced citizenship.
The fact that access to a university education is denied most Americans by an underfunding of Universities by the government is a crying shame that perpetuates the problem of disrespect for the value of an education.
That’s how I see it!
@rooeytoo: You are correct. I would not use Joe SixPack as a compliment. Nor would I use it as an insult. again Joe Six-pack is generally accepted vernacular for “Your average Joe”. Any condescension is soly your own creation. FYI: I have FREQUENTLY described myself as Joe Six Pack.
@Jeruba – the irony was just about killing me but I was determined not to say anything. But now that you have, Thank you, thank you, thank you!
@Jeruba : Thanx. Spell check kept popping up but I had a brain fart. Tis not a word I use daily and…blah blah blah…
@rooeytoo: So, you don’t care for the phrase “Joe Six Pack”.... Are there any other phrases we should know about so we could expunge them from the vernacular?
@Rude_Bear – oh my you just don’t want to give up on this. Okay, it didn’t sound nice to me, it sounded like a very uneducated thing to say. But just to be sure I googled it and while I didn’t bother to read all of the several thousand hits, the ones on the first page all defined it as a derogatory remark. Now if you insist on saying it is not, so be it. Go ahead and use it to your heart’s content. I don’t care.
My remark to Jeruba was based on the irony that a person decrying the fact that educated folks were not properly appreciated, thus leading one to believe that you yourself were highly educated and the feeling the brunt of this slight by the masses,
misspelled solely.
However you have just proved that you can use words like expunge and vernacular so all is well, I now believe that you are highly educated and therefore deserving of my respect and admiration.
@rooeytoo —From my point of view you are the person who continued to beat the dead horse because I used a phrase you didn’t like. Read the answers… you are alone in your assessment that it’s derogatory.
As far as my spelling error… look closely. I cut and pasted my initial response. So one mistake and a Big thank you for being snarky.
I never claimed to be highly educated or the brunt of the masses… My question, which YOU never answered, deals with uneducated (and there are a lot of ‘em) people blasting their opinions about complex issues ( Economics, foreign trade, medicine etc.) because “common sense” tells them that nothing is difficult, and that all those over-educated egg heads are just making things difficult..
Eg: The Paradox of thrift. It is a good thing for the individual to be thrifty, but it is bad for the greater economy when people stop spending and save. It doesn’t meet the current standard of common sense, but it is a fact, and people who have studied economics understand this… It is a paradox. I (for one) am rather sick of hearing uneducated people arguing against an economic concept they cannot/do not understand.
But your more concerned with my use of “Joe-six pack” and being snarky. —
…as the human torch would say when he’s done fighting crime…
Flame off!
When you’re overqualified for jobs by virtue of being educated… or you think you are.
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