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Hidden Intellectualism

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Hidden Intellectualism
“Hidden Intellectualism” is all about being smart in different ways rather than just in academics. Gerald Graff talks about how boring school was for him and compares school to two uncompetitive sports teams. Watching uncompetitive sports gets extremely boring and makes someone not want to pay attention anymore. I tend to agree with the author to a point. After reading “Hidden Intellectualism” it definitely supported my feelings of what smart can be. I know academics is a part of smartness, but I know that smarts do not come from just books, but also from experience, and being around the block. A person can be extremely smart and have a terrible GPA, just like what Graff was talking about in the article. The person who is struggling does not strive in a school atmosphere and looks towards other things and gets incredibly smart that way. People can be totally oblivious to the outside world and have perfect A+’s, it can work in both ways. (302) I value an education very much because if you have an amazing education you can use it to your advantage out in the business world. How I think of it, is that when you go to school, you are learning to take on different tasks and decisions and different situations to become successful out in the business world. “Hidden Intellectualism” is also about creating chances out in the business world with “street smarts,” not “book smarts.” Graff uses these terms in his article. (297) I liked the way “Hidden Intellectualism” was written out, it gave me another perspective on what smart is. For example a person can be amazing in computers, or sports, sports analysis, landscaping, whatever it is, smart does not have to be from a school text book. The people out in the world create new ideas to battle the elements every single day. Take Kodak cameras for example. Now everybody knows what a Kodak camera is, right? The CMO of Kodak, Jeffrey Hayzlett, the chief marketing officer, was twittering one odd day. He came across people


Cited: Hayzlett, Jeffrey. "Redesigning Your Business." Motivational Speaker. Marriot, Memphis. 27 Aug. 2010. Speech. "Hidden Intellectualism." They Say I Say With Readings. Ed. Gerald Graff. New York: W.W Norton &, 2009. 297-303. Print.
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