THOUGHTS | The Cult Of Smart

My nephew came back home with 3 gold medals last week after he participated in the local athletics competition. I personally lack athletic ability and no matter how many times I’ve tried, I can’t run faster than any of my peers. I am always the last one in a marathon. Number mosela! Lasss number😂

Luckily, i live in a society that has a system that doesn’t regard athletics as an "important life requirement" and so even if I’m a lousy athlete, I know i am not a failure and that i can still live a successful and respectable life without athletics. But this is not the same story when it comes to academics. 

Every year in January the Minister of Basic Education, Angie Motshekga, announces the matric results and we get to celebrate top students, schools, and provinces. The media bombard us with pictures of students who, against all odds, managed to get five or six distinctions, and they praise the schools that have achieved the highest number of bachelor’s passes.

It is very beautiful to watch but this is what US educationalist Fredrik de Boer aptly refers to as the “cult of smart”, the idea that academic value is the only value, and intelligence is the only true measure of human worth. We live in a society where your intelligence is attached to your academic value and plays a significant role in determining the kind of life you can expect to lead. In general, if you are intelligent, you will have a much easier time surviving in the world than if you are not.

What we are failing to admit is that people cannot achieve the same level of intelligence through education. We should therefore stop using academics to determine a person’s worth and accept that everyone’s intelligence varies. South African Rapper Cassper Nyovest, for example, is a musical genius and not many people can do what he does. He is intelligent in HIS OWN FIELD which is basically about making music a business. 

Let's move away from this idea that Grade 12, a tertiary certificate/diploma/degree or Doctorate is the only true measure of intelligence and human worth. 

I want to live in a society where people can be of average intelligence and still be loved and respected for their kindness, strength, and patience, as well as their competence as plumbers, musicians, athletes, chefs, or artists. Never should academics be used to determine a person’s value or as a requirement for leading a purposeful and honourable life. My name is Dion. #HappyFriday #TGIF #FridayThoughts

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Reference:

Nhlanhla Nyide It’s not rocket science — our deficient education system reinforces social and economic inequality 2023 Daily Maverick

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