Had the nerd been exposed to the same situations they would likely learn faster and have better street smarts. Street smarts do win the race against book smarts but it is the combination of two that does the wonder. Book smart is simply describing that the person as generally intelligent, well educated and do well academically. Book smarts refer to the education, schooling and other kinds of knowledge that one has acquired. I love the opportunity to answer this question, but most people arent going to like the answer. And if youre street smart and not book smart, then read a goddamn. They looked at how students in an urban school viewed the differences between students that are street smart and those that are book smart. Ikea stores in some countries advertise furniture for siestas wisdom culture. One of the major differences between the two and ultimately why street smarts are in many ways more helpful than book smarts is that being street smarts gives you situational awareness. A recent debate at the eastern correctional facility in new york between prison inmates and the harvard debate team had me questioning whether its better to have street smarts or book smarts. I always hear people refer to others as either having book smarts or street smarts. Infographic by john cook on november 4, 2011 at 10. While which one is more helpful can be a matter of debate and also depends on the context, it is generally seen that street smarts weigh more on the.
Last season the apprentice was based on this dichotomy, pitting a team of people with higher education against a team whose members had less formal education. Go get an apartment, or reach for a more challenging job. Street smarts is a worthwhile business book, and i do recommend this book to anyone interested in entrepreneurial material, however the author played a bit of a deception in the reader. Its clear that some people have better judgment than others. If you are a street smart with knowledge, it works best. Your resume may be topnotch with years of experience, outstanding grades and awards but the interview aspect is a nightmare.
Usually, people considered to be book smart are known as lacking in street smarts, and vice versa. Why street smarts always win out over book smarts when it. It means that it enables you to observe and evaluate the situation or environment you are in. Book smart vs street smart essay research paper example. We all know people who are book smart but clueless in the real world, and those who are street smart but unable to handle any environment other than the one theyre used to. Learn the five mistakes that you cant afford to make in college. In fact, the term common knowledge accurately describes exactly what the name indicates, that the knowledge is common amoung people, and that the common. The stereotype of a streetsmart person is someone who knows how to. In graffs essay, hidden intellectualism, graff compares street smarts to book smarts.
Being street smart means having interest in other activities more than in school work, while being book smart is the complete opposite of that. Unless you write a book that a best seller, then you dont need street smarts all that much. However, when i hear the phrase im not book smart, im street smart, it generally is not referring to this sort of intelligence. Theres book smart, there is street smart, theres relationship smart, theres too many different kinds of smarts to know all of them. I grew up disliking academics very much but didnt mind the street smarts i had gained.
To be street smart, you have to spend time on the streets. In fact, the online oxford dictionary defines being book smart as having a lot of academic knowledge learned from books and studying, but not. Street smarts i believe take a kind of ruthlessness, while book smarts is, to me. How smartness is defined within schools contributes to low academic achievement by poor and racialethnic minority students.
While many, if not most, people hold book smarts in the highest regard, the truth is. Book smarts street smarts do business schools value business experience. The ladies of the real share their views, in this girl chat. Finding the balance for me was extremely difficult. So which are the differences between book smarts and really intelligent people. Ive always wondered in the back of my mind what the actual outcome of this would be, so i was pretty excited when i saw your title. Ebscohost serves thousands of libraries with premium essays, articles and other content including street smarts vs. If you are trying to figure out whether book smarts or street smarts will land you a job easier or even score you a higher starting salary, you are probably still living in the past. However, they dont necessarily have a deeper comprehension of the topic. Street smarts vs book smarts, the epic debate continued. You get street smarts when people try to take advantage of you, when they try to bully you, or when they try to bamboozle you. There are several problems with the terms street smarts and book smarts.
They discussed that students viewed book smarts as students that would gain an education and go to colleges while street smarts were viewed as being able to maneuver through life, social structures, and. The truth is, being book smart and street smart has a lot more to do than just your upbringing and personality. Can someone possibly have a high amount of both book and streets smarts if so, name the person and. Neither book smarts nor street smarts is as helpful as a rich relative, jokes tim knox who decided to forgo college and today is the founder and president of four successful technology companies. I also recognize that this kind of street smarts is a specialized, complex, important skill set which i, with all my book smarts, could never hope to master. It has a lot to do with your preferred learning style, and which way you perceive the world. Theres just too many different kinds of smarts for people to know all the smarts. Graff believes that having the personality of a street smart person can benefit society if one knows how to channel their potential correctly. Book smart vs street smart essay example studymoose. What types of smart are there besides book smart and street smart. Being street smart beats being book smart any day of the week. However, to amass a truly sizable personal fortune, youll probably need a large dose of street smarts as well. As a result, computers became the mainstay for engineering design and.
In reality there is zero difference between the two. The reality is that they simply dont know what theyre not exposed to. Its extremely tough to succeed without finding a balance between book smarts and street smarts. Philosophical shtis it better to be book smart or street smart. It also gives you a better idea of the people you are with and the. Why you need to be street smart, not book smart better. Street smarts trump book smarts if you want to get. What is the difference between book smart and street smart. Some people are analytically intelligent or book smart. Essay on street smarts versus book smarts 706 words 3 pages. In the end the book smart harvard debate team was defeated by the street smart prisoners.
Simply put, a person who has book smarts is someone who is intelligent and. A shrewd ability to survive in a dangerous urban environment. Now obviously you cant just get on the road and start driving with no experience whatsoever even though it seems as if many already do. For many people, there is no difference between smart and. The bottom line is that as with many other things in life, there are times when book smarts come in handy and other times when street smarts are the way to go. Slightly pale, thick glasses, belts up to their chest, comic book fanatics. Main street smarts is available now at and other online retailers david morgan is the cofounder and coo of sts international, where he oversees worldwide operations for rapid design. Theres money smart, theres movie smart, theres computer smart. Subscribe for regular updates, insights and stories. Most people spend a small fortune on a college education for book smarts but when you get in the real world, you must also have street smarts. Both malcolm x, and gerald graff make very interesting points about street and book smarts. Being able to succeed scholastically, and not necessarily in the real world. In street smarts, rogers takes us through the highlights of his life in the financial markets, from his school days at yale and oxfordwhere despite the fact that he didnt have enough money to afford the appropriate pair of shoes, he coxed the crew and helped to win the oxfordcambridge boat race as well as the thames cup, the first of his.
Growing up, i was very street smart but not so book smart. This type of intelligence is used to recall or recognize, analyze, evaluate, and. While intelligence has been defined in many different ways including as ones capacity for logic, understanding, selfawareness, learning, emotional knowledge, planning, creativity, and problemsolving. Graff debates the common belief that having book smarts gives one an intellectual advantage over other forms of intellectualism. I respect what graff, and x have to say and agree with them, both book and street smarts are very important. Whenever someone says im not book smart, but im street.
It solely is a theoretical understanding of facts or ideas. My opinion is, in order to get and keep a good paying job, you need both street smarts and book smarts. Just to set an example in regardings to the topic, when the economy comes down to a threat where individuals will be drafted to war, street smarts will doubt less and think of strategies in order to survive through the battlefield,while on the other hand book smarts are hesitating about. The general definition of book smart is someone who is intelligent and very well educated academically. The real difference between book smarts and genuine. Street smarts, book smarts by sugato chakravarty author isbn. Book smarts can most certainly help you attain success in life but you can only go so far without having some sense of charisma or sociability. While which one is more helpful can be a matter of debate and also depends on the context, it is generally seen that street smarts weigh more on the scale when it comes. Because spanish is the official language of 21 countries, it was a bit difficult to choose one, but because i hope to travel here sometime within my high school experience, ive chosen the spanish. Book smart people have a lot of general knowledge and do well at quizzes, but they might struggle with more complex ideas. Whereas, street smarts refers to the experiential knowledge on things. Book smarts and street smarts, both have their advantages in the corporate world and it depends upon what the employer is looking for to determine who gets the upper hand. Simply put, i am saying that street smarts are as equally as important in the world as book smarts. When we design a color tv, we dont really ask which is the most important.
October 18, 2014 introduction this paper will be discussing the debate on whether or not higher education in law enforcement officers should be mandatory and the effect it can have in the correctional. The distinguishment between street smarts and book smarts is a. If youre book smart and not street smart, then get out in the freaking world. Now living on the street is different than street smarts. Book smarts can certainly aid you in becoming wealthy. When people discuss street smarts and book smarts, its usually implied that you can only have one or the other. Malcolm x obviously had the street smarts, but like graff he mixed his new book smarts with his street smarts to be successful in life. In the beginning he emphasizes that his knowledge of business comes from street smarts, beginning with the lessons he learned on the street from his father.
Whether one is more versed in street smarts or book smarts depends on the circumstances one has grown up under. My job was not to be the expert, but to connect people and create an environment that the subject matter experts could collaborate, make decisions. Street smarts over book smarts gerald graff is a professor of english and education in the university of illinois at chicago. Street smarts vs book smarts talking about thinking. Most people who are street smart arent very book smart and vice versa. However, the underlying idea is that the person deals with situations especially bad or difficult situations from an intellectual d. This barcode number lets you verify that youre getting exactly the right version or edition of a book. That puts you in contact with unsavory characters, the kind that typify the hustler that embodies the negative version of that word. It triggered an immediate paradigm shift in my mindset from worrying about my book smarts, to making it my purpose to enable the team, navigate the organization, and remove the obstacles in our way. Someone who is intelligent, learns well, and educated very well academically. Essay on street smarts versus book smarts 706 words. For example, 25% of people on social media have posted something they later regretted, the divorce rate in the us is 50%, and over the past decade the tattoo removal industry has grown 440% although tramp stamps and tasteless tweets are mostly benign mistakes, there are a remarkable number of people whose. I need this, guys, i know im capable of some type of smart. The figured world of smartness in the lives of marginalized, urban youth.
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