Essay On Mark Rose's Blue Collar Brilliance

Society’s view on intelligence is becoming watered down from the truth. In Rose’s article, “Blue Collar Brilliance” Rose discusses societies outlook on intelligence. Rose explains how society thinks blue collared jobs don’t involve any intelligence, and anyone can do a blue collared job. He explains how society thinks that since you don’t have to have a high education to perform well in blue collared jobs, it takes little to no intelligence. Rose says, “We reinforce this notion by defining intelligence solely on grades in school and numbers on IQ test” (Rose 279). Rose explains that even though most blue collared jobs don’t require a college degree, they still demand many forms of intelligence. Rose also explains how his brother dropped out of school in the ninth grade but eventually became a successful employee of the company General Motors. In Graff’s article, “Hidden Intellectualism” he explains how there are many students in today’s world who have an outstanding amount of “street smarts” but are failing school. He explains

Knowledge isn’t all about what people know or how well they are in school. IQ tests test the intelligence of the person; however they test the pure thinking capacity rather than what people know. This means that intelligence comes from the entire cognitive thinking ability and not what they

Most people, when asked, say that a person is intelligent if they have “book smarts.” People that are book smart can write and converse about subjects taught in school. On the other hand, people with “street smarts” aren’t seen as intellectuals because the subjects they are knowledgeable about are not traditional. In his essay called “Hidden Intellectualism,” Gerald Graff insists that schools and colleges are missing an opportunity to translate street smarts into academic work.

Everyone is intelligence, it is just that some people have different strengths when it comes to applying that intelligence whether it be in english, math, or even sports. In the essay “Hidden Intelligence” by Gerald Graff, the author argues that there are different types of intelligences besides what is commonly known as academic intelligence, one of which he calls “street smarts,” and that schools are missing the opportunity to use these types of intelligence and integrate them into academics. While Graff does make some valid points about the types of intelligence and how it can be used to help students become better, there are flaws in his argument.

Additionally, Albert Einstein once said, “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” There are different forms of intelligence that go beyond what our school system measures. Students are not a unit to be measured, and students cannot be assigned a numerical value to identify their intelligence. Students are diverse—they learn at different speeds, and they learn in different ways. Focusing solely on test scores is hurting our students and deviating away from building our society on success and excellence. Critics are slowly realizing the problems associated with standardized tests—they create anxiety, they are extremely biased, and they do not measure the ability to think deeply.

Education is not defined by knowledge, but rather by how one uses it to improve. As stated by Angela Lee Duckworth, “In all those very different contexts, one characteristic emerged as a significant predictor of success. It was grit.” This is an effective statement because we think that a person’s success is defined by their college degree, but people have never thought beyond the fact that someone without a college degree is more educated than someone who had graduated from college. People who learned from observations and make creation from scratch were more likely to make a difference even when they do not have a high school and/or college degrees. Those who went to school and earned A’s for their schoolworks would be less likely to make a difference because their passion is to get good grades rather than learning new ideas. The motivation to be smarter

In the United States, there has been, and always will be a debate on education.While some feel it is very important and crucial to success, others feel it is unessential to our happiness and well being. Many assume that education and success are directly associated with intellectualism. In this essay, I will review the current trend in research on intellectualism, which many feel is to enforce pursuing a higher education, due to a common belief among the American people that those who do not receive a higher education are seemingly less intelligent. Research on this topic increasingly suggests that those who receive a higher education, tend to make more money, rating them as more successful in the eyes of

In his essay, “Blue Collar Brilliance” Mike Rose claims that “competence was synonymous with physical work.” He addressed this subject because working class citizens were often looked down on for not having a college education. His mother was a waitress at a busy restaurant and from a young age he and his father often watched her at work. He learned his mother had the ability to multitask, manage her time at work and also observe the psychological needs of the people she both worked for and with. I fundamentally agree it does not require an academic education to be considered intelligent.

Academic work should not define intelligence nor should a job define ability; a person, regardless of grades, degrees, or job title, is an intellect. Together, Gerald Graff, a coauthor of They Say I say, professor, and former anti-intellect, author of "Hidden Intellectualism," and Mike Rose, professor, author, and in depth thinker, author of "Blue-Collar Brilliance," share two different perspectives on what an intellect truly is. Yet, both writings hold meaningful points and experiences to prove who qualifies to be an intellect. Society continuously focuses on what leads to a successful and rounded life: go to school, graduate, go back to school, get a degree, and then a job. It is believed that these high expectations of higher academics enables one to be more successful is correct; however, it is not. It is a person’s individual goals that give them the success they wish to have whether that be education, volunteering, or donating. Also, street smarts is not to be overlooked; a person with common sense can know more than a Doctor. Typically, a person can have either common sense or intelligence, not both. Street smarts is, without a doubt, a superior quality to possess as it encompasses more in life than just a degree does. For example, it is more appropriate to know how to cross a street properly in life than know how to perform a craniotomy. Furthermore, one does not gain knowledge and life lessons through school alone, but through experience,

The reader can also understand that the article was written to persuade the reader that intelligence cannot be defined by the amount of education a person has received.

One’s intelligence cannot simply be measured based on his or her educational background. Intellect is spawned from within based on an individual’s experience and desire for additional knowledge. In the article, "Blue-Collar Brilliance", Mike rose contends the egocentric notion regarding what makes an individual intelligent; western civilization has drug on their fascistic opinions since earlier times. Everything including one 's intellectual capabilities has been measured by a hierarchy designed by the white man in order to oppress non-white civilization. Our intellectual capacity is bigger than a formal education; Intelligence that is acquired outside of the classroom is commensurate to those who have solemn educations.

What about those individuals that are academically gifted but are unable to care for themselves, are they well educated? To be educated shouldn’t one be both academic and practical. I am not saying that one must possess a college degree because I know for some that this is not possible, and for some this opportunity may not come until later in life. One should possess basic knowledge that we obtain from school. We need to know about the past so that that following generations do not repeat it. We also need to know math and reading so that we can communicate as a society. Science, also important so that we understand how things function as a whole and why. As for practical knowledge, people need to know how to take care of themselves the basic survival needs. It goes back to the survival of the fittest. There are too many young adults being sent into the world unable to fend for themselves. They can’t cook, clean up after themselves or even do their own laundry.

You wouldn’t think of a high school dropout or someone that hasn’t really attended an educational school as intelligent now would you? Well tell that to people such as Richard Branson, David Carp, or even Malcolm X who have all became successful figures in life while having different levels of education without going through school. Intelligence isn’t only something that you can be born with but it’s also possible for you to work hard for and acquire intelligence just like Malcolm X did. In “Learning to Read” by: Malcolm X, he did just that by dedicating his time to become more educated to sharpen his street smarts into higher supreme smarts. Malcolm X was intelligent man when it came to street smarts, an outspoken leader for African Americans but he also self-taught himself how to read and write in prison.

In addition, these tests rates a student’s performance on simply one certain day and does not take into account outside factors. There are many kids who just don’t do good on tests. Many of these students understand the content and are intelligent, but it doesn’t appear on the test. Some students also develop test anxiety, which affects how well they

In today’s age, one’s level of intelligence is measured uniformly. That is, intelligence is directly proportional to grades and scores on tests like the STAAR or SAT. Grades and GPA mean everything; it determines your place on the smart scale, sees