In this essay Grant Penrod discusses the negative image of “nerds” and why people frown upon intellectualism. He describes how a football team gets massive recognition for their accomplishments on the field, and academic teams of the same school were given little or no recognition at all for their accomplishments. Penrod writes, “Nearly all of the graduating senior will remember the name and escapades of their star quarterback; nearly none of them will ever even realize that their class produced Arizona’s first national champion in Lincoln-Douglas Debate. After all, why should they? He and his teammates were ‘just the nerds'” (754). Penrod uses this statement to back up his idea that no matter how great someone can be intellectually they will never receive any credit, nor be remembered, because it’s just being smart and that’s not socially “cool.”
While I do understand that “nerds” are not socially accepted sometimes I don’t believe it is simply because they are smart. Being smart does not automatically make you a nerd, and I believe this is the flaw in making me believe in Penrod’s essay. I guess the true question is what makes someone a “nerd?” To me, Penrod believes it is only be smart and I completely disagree. A lot of athletes are very intelligent, but they are not deemed “nerds” because there are other factors to consider when labeling someone a “nerd.” Penrod never proves that people hate people solely because they are smart which makes his essay unpersuasive.
Grant Penrod’s “Anti-Intellectualism: Why We Hate the Smart Kids”
04 Friday Oct 2013
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flynnm590 said:
I agree with your point about how kids are not disliked because of how smart they are. I Incorporated that into my blog also. The way that I described the reason for people getting judged was by talking about there social status.
spencerdragon said:
I feel his information is outdated in this day and age. I am grateful to see another not believe his claim.
wincowskic805 said:
I see where you’re coming from about what makes a nerd but I think Penrod was speaking about the average. There will always be smart jocks and dumb nerds in the world, they just are not the average.
henselj576 said:
I agree with your post. I feel like the author did touch slightly upon why the nerds might be associated as outcasts, but he basically said that it is only because they are smart, which I disagree with completely. There is more then just one specific reason on why a person might not fit in.
lbarrella said:
I see where you are coming from but I believe the main point of Penrod’s essay was that intellectualism as a whole was looked down upon, not so much the people that use it to their advantage. Penrod was trying to elude to the idea that success is not solely based on intelligence anymore, if at all. Many people have been able to build successful lives for themselves without the use of higher education.