Wednesday, January 12, 2005

 

Dennis Miller & Fourteen Year Old Girls

I taught freshman math on Monday. I had both Algebra I and Pre-Algebra. Let's just say that math isn't my strong suit, though I did well enough to be able to complete the missing answer key for the Pre-Algebra chapter review quiz. In an odd turn of events, I also got an Algebra II student from the class next door to do the quiz as well. She would have scored higher than me if we were being graded. On the other hand, how often have I had to "solve for x" in the twenty years since I took my last math class?

My inadequecies in mathematics aside, I met an interesting young lady in one of the Pre-Algebra classes. She was bright, having a good grasp of the material at hand, and was helpful to the other students in class, explaining things with a simplicity that I never would have been able to. Later, she put down her own intelligence. Seems she's one of those 'flirty' girls, and I get the feeling she doesn't want to intimidate guys by being smarter than them. The more I thought about it, I wondered what she was doing in Pre-Algebra instead of Algebra anyway. I got the feeling she was smarter than she let on. Had she "dumbed it up" in order to find herself in an easier math class? Was this just an attempt to make her less threatening to boys her age? And in the end, who's to blame, her or the boys who find an intelligent girl threatening?

I've thought for a long time now that our culture doesn't appreciate intelligence enough. If that weren't bad enough, Late Night TV and Reality Shows seem to be celebrating the moron. If there's anyone we shouldn't be clebrating, it's the moron. When I see Jay Leno giving air time to total idiots he finds on the street, I get pretty upset. He asks people simple questions on the street. I'm sure most people get those questions right. Too bad for them, because that's not what the American public wants to see. We want to see people that don't know who George Washington is, or who bombed Pearl Harbor.

What's worse, I'm sure that some people who know the right answer will give an incorrect one in order to get on TV. How different is that than the student who doesn't want to intimidate boys by being too smart? It would be like a track athlete holding back, not wanting anyone to think they were too fast, like a weightlifter "accidentally" crushing his larynx because he didn't want anyone to thing he's too strong.

We don't appreciate intellignce. We celebrate idiocy. I could accept that if we didn't, as a society, often view intelligence with contempt. Refer to someone an "Einstein" sometime. How do you think it will be perceived? Is it an accolade or an insult? Albert Einstein was one of the greatest thinkers of the modern age, his Theory of Relatvity one of the first unifying theories in science. And we use his name as an insult. What the hell is wrong with us?

I blogged this on the old Patient 957 site, but it applies here. I enjoy the comedy of Dennis Miller. I find the intelligence he brings to comedy refreshing when faced with a plethora of "what is the deal with......." comics. Dennis hosted Monday Night Football for a couple of seasons. An interesting choice, that did what ABC's Roone Arlidge set out to do, get people talking about Monday Night Football again. Dennis Miller didn't have the broadcast experience of Al Michaels or the knowledge of football of Dan Fouts. He had trouble fitting in. Still, I found his references interesting, particularly when a team was getting beat by forty points, it gave me a reason to stay tuned. A number of people didn't like Miller on MNF. I've got no problems with personal tastes, I realize he's not everybody's cup of tea. Some people complained that he didn't seem to understand football. Others complained that a comedian had no place broadcasting a sporting event. What bothers me is a complaint I heard from many places, including my local newspaper at the time; he's too smart. He's too smart? Miller was eventually replaced on MNF by former Raiders coach John Madden. Madden may know football, but he's not the sharpest tool in the shed. Yet I don't hear anyone complaining that he's too dumb. I'm an intelligent guy, I try to surround myself with intelligent people. I try to read and watch things that show a certain level of intelligence. I also happen to love football. ABC said they let Miller go because they were looking for a change. I think it's because he was too smart. If that's the case, is firing someone because he's intelligent any different than firing someone because he's black or gay or because he's a she? He is what he is and he can't change that. Thanks Dennis Miller for not dumbing it down.


Tony Siragusa of FOX is too dumb to be a sideline reporter, though......

BOJ

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