The love of learning
Why is intellectualism uncool? I don't know how many times I've been told "eww...nerd!" for mentioning the opportunity cost of running cross country or analyzing a sports game in terms of kinetic energy and momentum. It's not that I expect everyone to enjoy econ or physics, it's the fact that integrating concepts we learn in school is considered unusual. I know I've complained that what we learn in school is useless, but it's useless only because we make it so. We choose to shun the application of the knowledge we studied so hard to learn.I went to a lecture on neutrinos this evening. To be perfectly honest, the lecture was not terribly interesting. It was dumbed down to a level where anyone with any exposure to particle physics would have already known everything. Despite this, the experience was incredibly fun. I was surrounded by people who chose to give up their Tuesday night to go to a physics lecture. The atmosphere was so alive. I really wish people would value knowledge, whether it be literature, history, philosophy, or science.
posted by Edward Young @ 11:10 PM
2 Comments:
It might be because the majority of people aren't intellectuals, hence, they can't relate any normal situations to the concepts learned. Most people don't want to think about the hows and whys. They just accept it at the surface.
wow... you have a LOT of blog spam.
but i agree with you 100%. i'm such a nerd, whether it's about calc (ahhh i miss that class), physics, literature, history, or whatever; of course, i don't find ANY appeal in engineering/chem/computer stuff. but hell, there's so much interesting stuff out there; it's just plain depressing that people think it's so-called "uncool" to show INTEREST in something besides teenage life.
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