3 ms·

Just because someone isn't good at mathematics (or whatever subject) doesn't lead them to a life of flipping burgers, nor does it mean they're less bright.

• calibraxis 12y ago
  Yes, schools train and select for obedience. Certainly not intellectual excellence. (Such as contradicting what the fool in front of the class says; or deciding for yourself whether attending one day is an effective use for your time, compared to reading an engrossing book.) If intellectual excellence were the goal, the institution would look very different. Those who succeeded in such a system tend to enjoy thinking it's a meritocracy, and implicitly consider themselves bright. Others obviously have a different perspective.
  • loceng 12y ago
    Well put.
    • alexqgb 12y ago
      And then they go to lives of selecting against people with more gumption. It may be good for institutional stability, but not so great for organizational innovation and adaptability.
• cms07 12y ago
  It certainly can mean that they are less bright.
  • loceng 12y ago
    It could mean they're more intelligent and more creative too, just perhaps not having the patience or mental structure for learning and applying mathematics, chemistry, whatever. So that makes comparisons a bit of a moot point, and so the focus should be a) getting people into activities where they're learning things they're motivated and interested in learning about, and b) treating everyone kindly, which means having compassion which means having understanding about how intelligences work, how people work, and not using language that tells a person what they're be or not be if they do one thing versus another. If you tell someone that they'll do well at something, they'll do better at it than if you tell them they'll do badly.