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anti-intellectualism..
In Grant Penrod’s argument about intellectuals he does make some very valid points on why our current society looks down on those that are smarter. Although I do understand his argument, I do not completely agree with everything mentioned.
First he begins to talk about how in high school the “nerds” or “geeks” are the unnoticed and unpopular kids while I beg to differ from that point. When I was in high school the “nerds” had just as many friends and were just as well known as the “popular” kids, and in a lot of cases were the “popular” kids. The football was noticed for its wins but so was DECA and the debate team. During my high school years one of my best friends was on the debate team, my other best friends was in all AP classes, my other best friend was a cheerleader and a twirler, and I was a cheerleader. In no way were there any ranking status or anyone leaving out the “nerds” in my school. I am aware that a lot of schools do struggle with stereotype problems which could cause this forgottenness but it is not always the case and usually can be fixed.
He then started talking about public figures and their success compared to their degree of education. So there were a few people that got lucky in the world and made it big without a college degree, but now look at all the people that made it big with a larger form of education. The amount of people that had education and are successful completely outweighs the amount of people without a high school degree. There are even many actors and models that have some level of college degree that that do not even need. It is obvious that with a higher degree it is more likely you will earn a higher salary but there are cases where people without degrees can make a high amount of money, and this is not just with celebrities but with everyday people too.
Penrod does have some valid points and does bring up a good argument but I feel that he is lacking a few things. In my opinion, anti-intellectualism is not a big problem in todays society but the view could be altered a little bit to make it slightly more accepted.
