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I learned when I was a child it was dangerous to be the smartest person in the room. It's much safer to appear to be the village idiot, or at least less bright
by Aloha 10y ago
I learned when I was a child it was dangerous to be the smartest person in the room. It's much safer to appear to be the village idiot, or at least less bright that the brightest.
I do disagree fundamentally with the concept of the evils of merit - merit is so much more than smarts and formal education, its a mix of capacity for the role, agreeability and eagerness, productivity, effort expended, grooming and appearance, and a dozen other factors, most of which are intangible. You don't have to be information work level of smart to achieve these qualities either.
The problem is a belief that certain kinds of education make one more suitable for a role. I'd take someone with 4 more years of real world experience over that college degree any day.
- Broken_Hippo 10y agoI think many find the same thing. Don't prove the teacher wrong. Too smart in a few subjects or suddenly figuring stuff out? Accusations of cheating. "You are too smart for your own good" the adults say. "Yeah, they are smart, but smart people don't have common sense and it shows" (which is really more noticing that the kid acts just like other children due to maturity levels or that they are thinking outside of the box). And it carries over into adulthood. One of the unfortunate things to learn is that sometimes, one just has to not say anything. Don't be smarter than the boss, nor too independent (yet not too clingy or stupid). Always a balance. Fitting into the mold actually goes further than actual intelligence.
- Aloha 10y agoFor me at least, its more.. don't stand out, hide in the crowd - I've never been one who's good at blending in, I don't need one additional thing to make me a target.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]