Anti Intellectualism

In Penrod’s essay “Anti-Intellectualism: Why We Hate the Smart Kids” he writes about how in today’s society we tend to glorify the non-intellectuals by referring to athletes and celebrities with less than impressive academic achievement. Others look to these people as heroes. For example “In more than a few cases athletes’ income surpass the gross national product of some third-world countries”(“Money,Contracts, and Switzerland”). Penrod’s use of sources are taken from a variety of mediums, one of which was internet forums. I thought that his use of actual posts from teenagers in school was a perfect example of the kind of thoughts that spread the feelings of anti-intellectualism. With the essay being about people’s feelings or actions toward a certain other group of people i feel that an internet forum is the perfect source. I absolutely aggree with Penrod’s essay, I feel that the way we glorify the “jocks” and ignore the “nerds” is something that is reinforced through the school system and the media as we grow up and those thoughts carry on into our adult lives.