Summary
The concept of intellectualism has developed a considerable degree of social stigma as seen in the essay “Anti-Intellectualism: Why We Hate the Smart Kids”. Despite the considerable contributions of intellectuals towards the modernization of the world today through science and technology, they are still thought of as being a pox on general social convention. This is due to the fact that they are unable to “fit in” with what society deems of as an acceptable form of behavior.
Combined with the prestige and wealth enjoyed by a variety of popular culture icons, such as Sammy Sosa, Michael Jackson, Lady Gaga, and other artists who have never espoused nor attained higher education degrees yet have still been able to achieve a lot, this has resulted in many individuals within society today developing the notion that intellectualism does not necessarily guarantee success in life.
In fact, based on modern pop culture, the behaviors and thinking shown by intellectuals are so divergent from what many believe is the norm. Thus intellectuals have been labeled as having socially divergent behavior resulting in considerable discrimination.
Analysis
The inherent problem with having this sort of discrimination in place within society today is that it in effect discourages people from developing their full intellectual potential. In a bid to appear more mundane and ordinary, those with a great deal of intellectual capability would choose to either dumb down their manner of speech and thought. However, they might even intentionally lower their test scores in order to appear like any other student within class.
The end result of such an approach is that the respective fields to which intellectual students could have potentially contributed their significant advancements would be denied “new blood”, so to speak, resulting in such fields languishing in a state of stagnation (Claussen, 8-13).
Society as a whole could potentially be in a state of little scientific advancement, perpetually focusing on what is socially acceptable. Therefore, it results in a state of affairs that can only be classified as a form of human devolution due to the popularization of ineptitude over intellectualism.
Recommendation
Based on such information, it is highly recommended that some means of dissuading the general public towards the development of such an adverse social behavior should be created. This can be done in a number of ways whether through a message given during a State of the Union address, presidential debates or even through a general public announcement given by the media.
The most important facet of this is that the general population will be convinced of the necessity of intellectualism and made aware that the present day method of negative thinking can be compared to the funeral bells of humanity unless something is done to promote intellectual development.
Works Cited
Claussen, Dane s. “A Brief History Of Anti-Intellectualism In American Media.” Academe 97.3 (2011): 8-13. Academic Search Premier. Web.