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1/ I’ll never understand our culture’s strong disdain for expertise. Dislike of Kings? Sure. Unease with snobs? Absolutely. Discomfort with elites? Me too.
It’s not just a PhD/EdD/MD thing; the past year has shown that MDs are also treated w/disdain. https://www.wsj.com/articles/is-there-a-doctor-in-the-white-house-not-if-you-need-an-m-d-11607727380
It’s not just a PhD/EdD/MD thing; the past year has shown that MDs are also treated w/disdain. https://www.wsj.com/articles/is-there-a-doctor-in-the-white-house-not-if-you-need-an-m-d-11607727380
2/ We proclaim ourselves the country of self-made men. But the only “making” in certain circles that does not provoke scorn is the making of the money kind. The “making” of the intellectual kind is seen as threatening, other. Why?
3/ Why do those who go “without the meat, and curse[d] the bread”* admire material wealth, but resent those who better themselves through education?
And:Why are so many people (men) threatened by others (women) who have worked to know their craft?
*Robinson, “Richard Cory.”
And:Why are so many people (men) threatened by others (women) who have worked to know their craft?
*Robinson, “Richard Cory.”
4/ Are we that easily undone? That thin skinned? That likely to see someone else’s asset as our direct loss? Can’t we see that as part of a society, some people’s expertise is necessary in certain circumstances and not others?
5/ While I wouldn’t want an EdD performing my heart surgeon, I’m also not sure I’d feel comfortable working for a principal whose only qualification was cardiology. And I don’t want a historian to redo my plumbing or to take a history course from a plumber. Knowledge matters.
6/ This country is never going to figure itself out until we respect that there is a place for knowledge. And if you need a historical example to lean on, remember your founding documents were written largely by well-read lawyers.
Sit with that. Smart is not a character flaw.
Sit with that. Smart is not a character flaw.
End/ And no, I don’t have a Dr. before my name. Maybe someday I will, maybe I never will. But I like books and podcasts and conversations and learning new things, academic and non-academic. And that doesn’t make me an elitist. Tearing others down does.
