Hide & Seek with Intellectualism
Life is full of advantages and disadvantages but it's mainly determined depending on your background. In society now, you can either be book smart or street smart. People have one or many types of intellectual knowledge on a topic and/or subject that's interesting to them, driving them to intake and learn as much information as possible. However, at the end of the day, those people discovering their interests often use it to benefit themselves, motivate and teach others, or even debate. English Professor at University of Illinois and coauthor of "Hidden Intellectualism", Gerald Graff, uses sports and his childhood to illustrate how street smart is much more far-reaching than book smart if not the same. "Who you lookin' at, smart ass? As a leather-jacketed youth once said to me as he relieved me of my pocket change along with my self-respect.", is possibly the start of how Graff started to view the importance of street smart and book smart ("Graff"). He brought the two smarts together hoping to use subjects to interest …show more content…
The hoods Graff grew up in were filled with whites, Black/African Americans, and Native Americans, it was also part of the World War melting pot. Graff started to accept the working-class Chicago "hood" he lived in. He eventually started realizing based on his surroundings that book smart wasn’t going to get him anywhere." [When I got to college] I hated books and only cared for sports" (Graff 265). Graff found the Sports Illustrated magazines and the book Bob Feller Strikeout Story way more interesting than actual school. He felt as if his anti-intellectual choices enhanced his intellectual skills. Graff further explains, that based on what you know about street smarts can show a significant benefit to
Life is full of advantages and disadvantages but it's mainly determined depending on your background. In society now, you can either be book smart or street smart. People have one or many types of intellectual knowledge on a topic and/or subject that's interesting to them, driving them to intake and learn as much information as possible. However, at the end of the day, those people discovering their interests often use it to benefit themselves, motivate and teach others, or even debate. English Professor at University of Illinois and coauthor of "Hidden Intellectualism", Gerald Graff, uses sports and his childhood to illustrate how street smart is much more far-reaching than book smart if not the same. "Who you lookin' at, smart ass? As a leather-jacketed youth once said to me as he relieved me of my pocket change along with my self-respect.", is possibly the start of how Graff started to view the importance of street smart and book smart ("Graff"). He brought the two smarts together hoping to use subjects to interest …show more content…
The hoods Graff grew up in were filled with whites, Black/African Americans, and Native Americans, it was also part of the World War melting pot. Graff started to accept the working-class Chicago "hood" he lived in. He eventually started realizing based on his surroundings that book smart wasn’t going to get him anywhere." [When I got to college] I hated books and only cared for sports" (Graff 265). Graff found the Sports Illustrated magazines and the book Bob Feller Strikeout Story way more interesting than actual school. He felt as if his anti-intellectual choices enhanced his intellectual skills. Graff further explains, that based on what you know about street smarts can show a significant benefit to