Why is society biased against intelligence?

Well, where I lived, there were very many friendly and intelligent individuals (friendly and intelligent by my standards anyway). But even though they were intelligent and friendly, they didn't mind doing or trying what I considered stupid (drinking, smoking, and driving like lunatics come to mind), they didn't discriminate against any one person or group in particular unless there were good reasons (and even then this singling-out usually ended after some weeks if the person or group decided to explain or change), and they still managed to have what I considered great social lives and do well in sports. I don't come into contact with many of them because I didn't talk that much at the time, so now I just have a few very good friends. Kind of a shame, I think, but I don't want to get greedy now, do I?

Of course, there were some peers who didn't concentrate too much on their schoolwork or got into trouble very often, but if I didn't say or do anything wrong to them, they wouldn't say or do anything wrong to me either. And if I happened to hit a nerve, oftentimes all it took was for me to say sorry, or two weeks for everything to blow over. There were only one or two people from my years of K-12 who were consistantly vengeful or malicious towards me, but oftentimes it was more because I was at fault or circumstances outside of my control rather than them having blind hatred.

Extremely long and boring text aside, when I first logged onto the internet and came across this "anti-intelligence" problem, I was baffled. I found that many individuals I met on the internet and in real life were more than willing to have intelligent discussions, only indulging in trolling or silliness every once in awhile. I've tried a bit of online immaturity myself, just for the heck of it to see what it's like. I haven't gotten to smoking or drinking, if real life problems are what you are all more concerned about, but most of the people I've met are still very reasonable after doing either.

Am I just incredibly lucky? Is the fishbowl I'm living in too small? Some people have obviously done things I dislike, but oftentimes there are reasons for those actions. Although the reasons do not always fully justify the action, they at least explain why he or she went through with that action. Nobody's perfect, and I know I'm pretty far from perfect as it is.

There shoulden't be any more worry because in my up and coming generation, the people that are smart are respected,at least in my city. Its not just the jocks anymore, its anyone who is not an a$$. Its now based on what kind of person you are. Several kids in honors classes are the major players on our football team. Its not like the old days anymore where the smart are picked only becasue they're smart, your picked on if you are a groupee. I have a friend who is only good at school but because he is easy to get along with he has tons of friends.

I would say now it depends on how social you are and... probably the way you dress and look.

Like dr_strangecraft, I find that need creates a schism between yourself and others. Within this schism, everything means so much more. School. Family. Food. Life.

Intelligence is relative. The reason there are dumb people in this world is so that there can be smart people.

The bell curve keeps us safe. Because they are larger in number, dumb people have more resources than smart people. This gives them more options for suppression. Un-checked change would mean the end to the human race.

I dont know about everyone else, but i have found that women are not expected to be as smart, and as much as the "educated woman" is a growing commonplace, being a smart woman is looked down upon, at least by "dumb" men.

This forces women to either be bitchy(excuse my language) or ditzy. If she is bitchy no one will like her, and if she is ditzy, she will not work at her full potential.

A nice smart woman is almost impossible to find. You know why? cause she is trampled all over until she surrenders her knowledge (at least offering her knowledge) or becomes bitchy.

So idk about men, but women are almost formed into being dumb so that they are not trampled on by others. Dumb is a defense?

---pineapple

If thats why I can't find any smart girls then well crap I guess I'm screwed! Any single smart women are soon found and held onto like Gollem and the ring lol.

ahhh the partner match.....i'm quite intelligent, nothing fantastic, but i think for some reason chicks didnt fall over themselves for me untill a year or so ago.....you try being attractive AND smart, only the dumb girls talk to you because the smart(possibly ugly) ones are intimidated by looks.....but i've found a smart Gorgeous Girl.....and shes italian to boot!!!

Hehe lucky you, I bet you won't let go untill you absolutely have to, if ever.

Too bad tech competitions are not as big as sports, I bet it would solve some problems in the world.

"Why is society biased against intelligence?"

I have wondered this since I was in primary school (I am 16 now). I live in England, and when I was in secondary school especially; I was teased all the time.
I was top of the class in most of the school subjects, but instead of being respected - I got picked on. I don't think I am one of those annoying intelligent people, the ones that talk for ages in class, etc.

Then I see all the dumb people, laughing at the teachers - as they know the teachers cannot do anything about it. These are the people who get all the friends, all the dates, etc. Why?

I also found something else out at school; lke I said, I was in the top set in most subjects - but also were these yobs! I don't know how the hell they got into the top sets; all the way through the lessons they just messed around.

I was picked on at school really bad, so bad - that my parents pulled me out. I took up home education, and it worked wonders. For those 3 years, I teached myself everything. Now this year I am going to College to do a National Diploma in Computing.

Anyway, back to the topic... I blame the media for all these dumb students (and people in general). All the 'celebrities' do not help either, or stupid reality television programs such as Big Brother.
Another possibility of mine, is the following:

As an example, lets take a look at computers. I myself, am a major computer geek (and am proud to admit it). I try and learn all there is to them, I have been programming all different sorts of computers for years.
Now, i'm going somewhere with this - I have the ability to *learn*. A lot of people today do not have this I have found. I think it's because, with the example being computers - they are more and more sophisticated these days; so people do not need to learn much at all to actually use one.

This goes for many subjects - things are so easy to use, people don't learn much - so they lose the ability to learn after a while; so when it comes to learning something - they need to be spoon-fed.

I personally think (and many with flame me for this) we should bring student discipline back in. That way, kids will learn respect - and to follow, the interest to learn.

Woah, sorry for the very long post. I hope my points are clear.

Maybe its because the smart people are ugly. I was just thinking that all the people that are picked on are ugly or dress weird or have bad hygiene. Because my fiend Jessica had the highest rank in our Freshmen class and she was one of the more popular girls. I just can't picture a nerd, even my friend Ryan, who dresses like a nerd with a pocket protector and lunch box gets along fine with people. Maybe its just here in Southern California where we don't class a person by intellect ability.

Originally posted by Brown
Maybe its because the smart people are ugly.

Well that's a load of BS for a start.
A lot of smart people seem to wear glasses (not an ugly thing) for some reason - never understood the connection (I don't wear glasses, but my whole family do - so I guess I will do later on in life).

One possible explanation for your "smart people are ugly" is as follows:

Coming from my point of view, and from knowing a lot of 'nerds' - we don't seem to mind about our apearence as much as other people. Hence, we don't fuss about makeup (if female), style clothing, etc. - which make people look "attractive".

Me personally, I don't care that much about my personal appearence (probably due to that fact I don't go out much) - I care more about having fun my own ways, gaining knowledge - and not being a 'sheep' basically.

Another thing a lot of people get wrong (most of the time), due to the media - is that 'nerds' (or geeks, or whatever else we get called) do not dress or act the way the media show us. I find it offensive when I am watching TV (very rarely) and someone tries to personate a 'nerd' - they get it all wrong; I know then it won't be as funny - but even still.

I reckon 90% of 'nerds' do not wear shirts, with pens and calculators sticking out the top of the front pocket.

I reckon 90% of 'nerds' do not have boring, straight, 'basin head' style hair cuts.

Have you looked at a lot of system hackers, crackers, security wizards (I know this is only to do with computers - but in my oppinion, these are the biggest 'nerds') - a lot of them are big muscle men with tatoos, drink a lot - but are still very intelligent. And as for the women, I know a lot of women 'nerds' and they are still very sexy and good looking.

The media is the main thing to blame for a society biased againt intelligence - they get people thinking "I don't want to turn out like that, I don't want to get picked on, etc".

Anyway, sorry for the rant.