>Smart kids will find ways to learn Not when society and peer pressure is against that, plus the culture of anti-intellectualism going rampant in the US/West t

>Smart kids will find ways to learn Not when society and peer pressure is against that, plus the culture of anti-intellectualism going rampant in the US/West that values appearance and aesthetics more than learning and education. I knew some kids in school who were crazy brilliant, however they never pursued performance due to fear of bullying from peers about it who saw learning as uncool. "The nail that sticks out gets hammered". When you're young, fitting in with the tribe is more important that pursuing individualism so if you want to pursue performance you need to move to the right social environment that encourages that instead of vilifying it. Sure, a few kids can fight and wither this presure and trend, especially if they're from a family/culture that values education like Asians, but that's not to say it's still swimming against the societal stream.