I though about this thread when I was reading my old school report cards last night. We had family over last night whom we had not seen for some time. My mum being the person that she is, always has to have something to hang her hat on and that, for her, is me. She doesn’t care that she is a dental nurse or that my siblings have done relatively well in school etc. Whenever people come over, she always feels the need to tell them about how well I have done or how far I will go.
History Lesson
Anyway, from when I was a young lad, I have always had the need to know more about things. People call it the thirst for knowledge. I started to read books very early on in life and was labelled a “gifted student” by my teachers. Although at the time, people in my family thought this to be a good thing; I have found out that it is not. In fact, it is probably the single worst thing that has happened to me in my life. My mum being the neurotic person that she is would not let this go and invested a lot of time, money and effort into buying books and making sure that I was keeping up to date with my reading. In hindsight this was probably a good thing as I have gotten to do a lot of things that other people would not. The only problem being is that, no matter how hard I tried, I could not for the life of me manage to shake of this tag. The tag of being smart is one of those things that people think that they would like to be blessed with. But in reality it is a nightmare. When I was in the first year of secondary school, my IQ was 126. This is very good for someone of that age and rightfully, I was known as gifted. The only problem being that being so young and progressing much faster, educationally than all your friends can be a tough time for people at that age. Needless to say, I was ridiculed mercilessly by my peers and also by people who were jealous of what I have achieved. That is neither here nor there though and, as I say, I got to do a lot of things that people do not normally get to. I met the First Minister of Scotland: Jack McConnell. I also got to meet the minister of education for the whole of Scotland and I also got to expand my horizons a lot in terms of education.
However, try as I might I could not get rid of this tag. It is a curse that haunts me to this day. Sure, I can speak more eloquently than a lot of people and yes, my grammar is better than some but what has the title of “being smart” done for me? This brings me to my first question. Is being labelled “smart” as child, a blessing or a curse?
Anyway, as I grew up and progressed further, I found that people were annoyed by me. I don’t know how you guys feel about me but I think that I am a likeable person. I have a good attitude and it is very difficult to get me down. The only problem is, I can’t stand it when people speak like idiots. As you are probably aware, I am Scottish. I cannot tell you how bad the level of grammar and how poorly people speak to each other in this country. Anyway, I always feel the need to correct people if they make a mistake when pronouncing something and I can’t help but feel slightly superior to someone who is not as “smart” as I am. People have claimed that the level of attainment in Scotland is very poor and I cannot help but agree with them. From first hand experience, I could only name a handful of people who actually talk well and have reason behind their thoughts. As I say, the level of attainment is dropping and more and more people in Scotland are choosing not to follow education and as a result people are finding that later on in life, it is hard to get out the rut they have dug themselves into whilst in childhood. To illustrate this, I will tell you a story. I was standing at the bus stop the other day waiting to go to work, when two people dressed in tracksuits joined me. They were now with me however and I casually minded my own business. I had my iPod in one ear and nothing in the other. So, just by coincidence, I was listening to what they had to say. I was appalled at the lack of grammar and articulacy that they had. Now, I know that a lot of people do not even understand Scots at the best of times, so I will try my best and give you a translation. They said:
Girl 1: Aye man, I pure could’nae look it his face cos he wis pure geein me the beady eye. I wis lit that, whit you lookin it, ya wee fuckin dafty, git tae fuck!
Girl 2: Ano, I saw him doon the street, he wis pure walkin wi this lassie and stoaped tae talk tae me. I wis lit that, who the fuck dae ye hink ye ir?
Just to let you know, I actually thought that my Microsoft Word was going to crash just there. It picked up so many spelling mistakes, it’s basically a sea of red. Anyway, I’ll get on with the translation.
Girl 1: Yes indeed, I could not look him in the eye as he was already looking at me. I said to the fine gentleman: What are you looking at? You silly person, please vacate my personal area if you would.
Girl 2: Yes, I noticed that person you are talking about in the Town centre. He was accompanied by a female. He stopped me to perhaps partake in a riveting conversation. I was having none of it though and asked him to explain his intention.
Needless to say, I could not help but let out a laugh. It’s not my fault. It was ridiculous. Noticing this, both girls found it necessary to point out that they were not in fact stupid and had just sat their Foundation exams in school. Most in these forums will not know what those are, so let me fill you in. Foundation exams in Scotland are for those who cannot handle doing average skill level exams, known as general level exams. Those who are clever, do credit exams. So, their rebuttal at me calling them stupid basically was for them to call themselves stupid. This right here is the problem. So, after a while of them telling me that they were stupid, I got on the bus and left them to converse some more, no doubt about the great mysteries of the universe. But it got me to thinking and this brings me to my second question. Why is it not fashionable to be clever? My answer to this is, at school all the people who pretended to be “cool” decided that they were not going to conform to school rules and planning. What they would try to do is cause as much delay and trouble as they possibly could. I think that they made a choice to act this way more as a guard against failing rather than anything else. Trying and failing is hard but not trying and failing is easy. Through this, I think it has become fashionable to be lazy and uneducated. A worrying trend indeed is emerging in Scotland.
My last thought is this. If it is now indeed unfashionable to be clever and to attempt to accomplish your goals, where will the world go? I know how hard it is to be an outcast because of your own personal achievements. I fought it and I am doing well. I have a lot of options open to me and I don’t really know what to do with it. My point is, If people subscribe to the opinion that being smart is bad or adverse in any way and hence decide that it is their best interest to stop learning, what will the results be. Sometimes, I wish that modern society would mirror that of the old Greek civilisation. By that, I mean that I wish the learned people would be respected enough to be thought of as good people, instead of:
“The pure, mad, geeky cunt it the bus stoap that telt me a wis stupit.
*Translation
“That learned gentleman, with whom I had a quarrel with, whilst standing at the bus stop.
So my questions for you guys are:
Is it a good thing to be labelled “gifted” at a young age?
Why is it suddenly unfashionable to be clever?
Why are the clever people not allowed to progress and be viewed as such by the community?
NOTE: This is not a bitch, just more about my thoughts than anything else. Also, don't answer with, "Poor Dave,he is supposedly smart and I am below standard" because you are not.
History Lesson
Anyway, from when I was a young lad, I have always had the need to know more about things. People call it the thirst for knowledge. I started to read books very early on in life and was labelled a “gifted student” by my teachers. Although at the time, people in my family thought this to be a good thing; I have found out that it is not. In fact, it is probably the single worst thing that has happened to me in my life. My mum being the neurotic person that she is would not let this go and invested a lot of time, money and effort into buying books and making sure that I was keeping up to date with my reading. In hindsight this was probably a good thing as I have gotten to do a lot of things that other people would not. The only problem being is that, no matter how hard I tried, I could not for the life of me manage to shake of this tag. The tag of being smart is one of those things that people think that they would like to be blessed with. But in reality it is a nightmare. When I was in the first year of secondary school, my IQ was 126. This is very good for someone of that age and rightfully, I was known as gifted. The only problem being that being so young and progressing much faster, educationally than all your friends can be a tough time for people at that age. Needless to say, I was ridiculed mercilessly by my peers and also by people who were jealous of what I have achieved. That is neither here nor there though and, as I say, I got to do a lot of things that people do not normally get to. I met the First Minister of Scotland: Jack McConnell. I also got to meet the minister of education for the whole of Scotland and I also got to expand my horizons a lot in terms of education.
However, try as I might I could not get rid of this tag. It is a curse that haunts me to this day. Sure, I can speak more eloquently than a lot of people and yes, my grammar is better than some but what has the title of “being smart” done for me? This brings me to my first question. Is being labelled “smart” as child, a blessing or a curse?
Anyway, as I grew up and progressed further, I found that people were annoyed by me. I don’t know how you guys feel about me but I think that I am a likeable person. I have a good attitude and it is very difficult to get me down. The only problem is, I can’t stand it when people speak like idiots. As you are probably aware, I am Scottish. I cannot tell you how bad the level of grammar and how poorly people speak to each other in this country. Anyway, I always feel the need to correct people if they make a mistake when pronouncing something and I can’t help but feel slightly superior to someone who is not as “smart” as I am. People have claimed that the level of attainment in Scotland is very poor and I cannot help but agree with them. From first hand experience, I could only name a handful of people who actually talk well and have reason behind their thoughts. As I say, the level of attainment is dropping and more and more people in Scotland are choosing not to follow education and as a result people are finding that later on in life, it is hard to get out the rut they have dug themselves into whilst in childhood. To illustrate this, I will tell you a story. I was standing at the bus stop the other day waiting to go to work, when two people dressed in tracksuits joined me. They were now with me however and I casually minded my own business. I had my iPod in one ear and nothing in the other. So, just by coincidence, I was listening to what they had to say. I was appalled at the lack of grammar and articulacy that they had. Now, I know that a lot of people do not even understand Scots at the best of times, so I will try my best and give you a translation. They said:
Girl 1: Aye man, I pure could’nae look it his face cos he wis pure geein me the beady eye. I wis lit that, whit you lookin it, ya wee fuckin dafty, git tae fuck!
Girl 2: Ano, I saw him doon the street, he wis pure walkin wi this lassie and stoaped tae talk tae me. I wis lit that, who the fuck dae ye hink ye ir?
Just to let you know, I actually thought that my Microsoft Word was going to crash just there. It picked up so many spelling mistakes, it’s basically a sea of red. Anyway, I’ll get on with the translation.
Girl 1: Yes indeed, I could not look him in the eye as he was already looking at me. I said to the fine gentleman: What are you looking at? You silly person, please vacate my personal area if you would.
Girl 2: Yes, I noticed that person you are talking about in the Town centre. He was accompanied by a female. He stopped me to perhaps partake in a riveting conversation. I was having none of it though and asked him to explain his intention.
Needless to say, I could not help but let out a laugh. It’s not my fault. It was ridiculous. Noticing this, both girls found it necessary to point out that they were not in fact stupid and had just sat their Foundation exams in school. Most in these forums will not know what those are, so let me fill you in. Foundation exams in Scotland are for those who cannot handle doing average skill level exams, known as general level exams. Those who are clever, do credit exams. So, their rebuttal at me calling them stupid basically was for them to call themselves stupid. This right here is the problem. So, after a while of them telling me that they were stupid, I got on the bus and left them to converse some more, no doubt about the great mysteries of the universe. But it got me to thinking and this brings me to my second question. Why is it not fashionable to be clever? My answer to this is, at school all the people who pretended to be “cool” decided that they were not going to conform to school rules and planning. What they would try to do is cause as much delay and trouble as they possibly could. I think that they made a choice to act this way more as a guard against failing rather than anything else. Trying and failing is hard but not trying and failing is easy. Through this, I think it has become fashionable to be lazy and uneducated. A worrying trend indeed is emerging in Scotland.
My last thought is this. If it is now indeed unfashionable to be clever and to attempt to accomplish your goals, where will the world go? I know how hard it is to be an outcast because of your own personal achievements. I fought it and I am doing well. I have a lot of options open to me and I don’t really know what to do with it. My point is, If people subscribe to the opinion that being smart is bad or adverse in any way and hence decide that it is their best interest to stop learning, what will the results be. Sometimes, I wish that modern society would mirror that of the old Greek civilisation. By that, I mean that I wish the learned people would be respected enough to be thought of as good people, instead of:
“The pure, mad, geeky cunt it the bus stoap that telt me a wis stupit.
*Translation
“That learned gentleman, with whom I had a quarrel with, whilst standing at the bus stop.
So my questions for you guys are:
Is it a good thing to be labelled “gifted” at a young age?
Why is it suddenly unfashionable to be clever?
Why are the clever people not allowed to progress and be viewed as such by the community?
NOTE: This is not a bitch, just more about my thoughts than anything else. Also, don't answer with, "Poor Dave,he is supposedly smart and I am below standard" because you are not.
