Re:American society increasingly mistakes intelligence for h...
by ctvo on Saturday June 18, 2016 @01:39PM
(#11929684)
I understand your point, but your example of height is odd because we do value height, even if just subconsciously.
http://blogs.wsj.com/atwork/2014/06/09/tall-ceos-how-height-... http://www.apa.org/monitor/julaug04/standing.aspx
Re:American society increasingly mistakes intelligence for h...
by aethos on Saturday June 18, 2016 @03:01PM
(#11930068)
Your example is incongruous. Height is something you have no power to change, while intellegence can be made. And even if it cannot, it can often be substituted for hard work -- this is why the common trope of the smart person beat by the hardworking less smart person exists.
Re:American society increasingly mistakes intelligence for h...
by kstenerud on Saturday June 18, 2016 @01:54PM
(#11929768)
"After all, both simply an accident of birth (genetics and early nutrition)."
And both are advantages because people respect them.
"Neither are something one achieves."
So what's your point? They still have the advantage of the innate respect their traits confer.
There is a difference between benefiting materially or politically from how society is structured and social respect. There is a difference between paying someone more or less for doing a job and how you treat someone when you interact to them.
Let me put it a different way... why should you respect raw intelligence over a person's height? After all, both simply an accident of birth (genetics and early nutrition). Neither are something one achieves.
I do not respect raw intelligence. I respect personality traits such as hard work, honesty, reliability, affability and bravery. I respect achievement, not potential. To tie someone's worth to inherent traits such as intelligence is, to me, somewhat shallow.