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1 Academic intelligence is absurdly overvalued
on forgotten qualities
“For many at the top of society, schools, universities and exam results have become an all-consuming mania,” writes James Marriott in The Times. Perhaps for good reason: “Almost every high status or well-paying job requires a degree.” It’s for that reason that telling a middle-class friend that their child is “athletically incompetent” results in a “knowing eye-roll” while suggesting the child is stupid will lead to an “imploded” friendship. We seem to have “forgotten that intelligence is one admirable human quality among many”. Academic qualifications “seem to offer a reassuring final statement of value in the form of a number or a letter”, writes Marriott. “But the grand edifice of academic achievement upon which so much elite self-worth is built is shaky.”