• Ilya B Shambat
    194
    When I was in school, the attitude that many people had was that academic learning was worthless and that the only thing that mattered in life was common sense and social skills. You may want that attitude if you are raising salesmen and lawyers. But the country needs many people besides just that. You also need engineers, programmers, doctors, scientists, teachers and many others. And for these people, they better have academic knowledge.

    Having that attitude is one of the most irresponsible things that one can have. You are attacking your best minds and making enemies of people who otherwise would be your greatest contributors. And that hurts mostly your country.

    So we have idiots riding around with signs that say “My son beat up your honor student.” Once again, these people are hurting mostly themselves. They make enemies of people who otherwise would be their greatest contributors. And that hurts mostly their country.

    For this state of affairs they blame – liberals, Jews, Communists, you name it. They should be blaming themselves. They destroy their best minds, and that renders them non-competitive.

    So then these people go into the academia. They are rightfully full of hatred. They buy into bullshit such as political correctness and Third Wave feminism. This does not serve the country at all. This serves its enemies.

    In school settings, the “jocks” are seen as exciting and the “nerds” are seen as bores. In the adult life that changes. The “jocks” settle into a predictable existence. The “nerds” keep learning, and they become more interesting people over the long run. At this point the “jocks” decide that the “nerd” types are evil. They are not. They are simply people who've bothered to educate themselves about many things, and they become more interesting over the long run than the people who have been “jocks.”

    Now not everyone who is a “nerd” is a good person, and not everyone who is a “jock” is a bad one. However for as long as people insist on destroying their best minds, they are going to lose. The correct solution to all this mess is to support and encourage academic learning. And then the people who tend to such things will become your country's contributors, and the influence of people who have a grudge against your country will be reduced.
  • Hanover
    12k
    When I was in school, the attitude that many people had was that academic learning was worthless and that the only thing that mattered in life was common sense and social skillsIlya B Shambat

    Unless someone here actually adopts this unsupportable view, you're arguing a straw man.
    You may want that attitude if you are raising salesmen and lawyers.Ilya B Shambat

    Except that lawyers and salesmen also need to be educated.
  • Artemis
    1.9k


    I didn't know the two were mutually exclusive. Ah, shoot, now I have to decide between my books and my weights? Argh, it's like Sophie's Choice! If only there was a way to live a healthy and fit life and be intellectual at the same time! Damn it all! Damn it all to hell!
  • ZhouBoTong
    837
    Well you will be happy to know that the nerds/jocks dichotomy has largely vanished from schools. The new divide is good looking and charming vs lower level of appearance and socially awkward. Notice this new divide is quite in line with adults, which suggests the old jock vs nerd things was really just a different version of the same thing. The remake of "21 Jump Street" captured this new version of popularity fairly well.

    Now not everyone who is a “nerd” is a good person, and not everyone who is a “jock” is a bad one.Ilya B Shambat

    In today's world, "nerds" can be less, equally, or more popular than "jocks". What this has revealed is that "nerds" are just as bad of people as "jocks". They also enjoy acting superior and creating exclusivity. "The Big Bang Theory" (tv show) highlights this perfectly. The first time the nerds realize they can outwit the jock, they use that power to make the jock feel stupid and inferior.

    And at least when "jocks" display lesser moral behavior, we can blame an inferior intellect. What excuse do the "nerds" have?

    The final good news is that more and more, people are realizing these "divides" are simply social fabrications, and creating "in-crowds" based on stereotypes is not best practice.
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