Tomas chamorropremuzic, hr examiner editorial advisory board contributor. Book smart or street smart from when we were little kids to grown adults it is put in our heads that education is the most important experience to have in our life. A shrewd ability to survive in a dangerous urban environment. The general definition of book smart is someone who is intelligent and very well educated academically. It is important to define the difference between both. It lets you be able to achieve any dreams and goals that you want. I definitely believe that you must have both street and book smarts to be the most successful in life. Street smarts means youve put yourself at risk and survived.
I like to think of myself as witty, but intelligent. Jerry yang and david filo were candidates in electrical engineering at stanford when they started yahoo. For instance, if you want a career in engineering, medicine, chemistry or. Book smarts refer to the education, schooling and other kinds of knowledge that one has acquired. Common sense or street smarts, a basic understanding of the mechanisms of the world disambiguation page providing links to topics that could be referred to by the same search term this disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title street smart. What is the difference between book smart and street smart. Its clear that some people have better judgment than others.
In real life, its harder to say who comes out on top. Growing up, i was very street smart but not so book smart. By definition, an entrepreneur is a risktaking businessperson. Being street smart can lead to book smarts as the street smart sense what works and what doesnt, and adapt accordingly. But, by far, the most common definition of smart is to be very good at learning and understanding things. A book smart has only word experience, as he or she is a book worm. Street smarts trump book smarts if you want to get seriously rich. Most people who are street smart arent very book smart and vice versa. Someone who is intelligent, learns well, and educated very well academically. Would you rather be a complete book smart person or a complete street smart person. Im a sophomore at university, and as an engineering major, i have to say we are the dumbest smart people there are. For many people, there is no difference between smart and intelligent, because the. Street smart can actually see the end goal and put together a machine that works reliably, is manufactured easily and inexpensively, and can be fixed and maintained without struggle.
If you want more than average out of life then you. Intellectualism by gerald graff is street smarts versus book smarts. 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. The ideal situation is street smart thinking accompanied by a book smart.
Essay on street smarts versus book smarts 706 words bartleby. It has a lot to do with your preferred learning style, and which way you perceive the world. I once heard a joke about the french revolution which explains the difference between knowledge and wisdom. Whether people are talking about themselves, or talking about another person, youll always hear them give some type of explanation that sounds. The author claims that people are better off if they are more street smart than book smart. Book smart is simply describing that the person as generally intelligent, well educated and do well academically. Why street smarts always win out over book smarts when it comes to success. It is great to read a book and learn about a particular subject, viewpoint or opinion. Street smart person finds his own interest, and gets his knowledge from experience. The rise of cities and the fall of cars schwartz, samuel i. Simply put, a person who has book smarts is someone who is intelligent and. Being street smart beats being book smart any day of the week. Book smart can tell you that this analysis and that test and yada yada means whatever.
The main distinction between the two is the difference. Philosophical shtis it better to be book smart or street smart. There has been a quiet jobs revolution in the usa, which has become more acute since year 2000. They never hold on to what is written in a book as something sacred and to be followed.
Essay on street smarts versus book smarts 706 words. 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. This distinction is a direct challenge by the youth to the dominant discourse of smartness. Why you need to be street smart, not book smart better. You may not have done the best on quizzes or term papers. Furlough has featured heavily in uk media recently. You are essentially studying what someone else has discovered. 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. Street smart vs book smart raising boys the pursuit of. Street smarts vs book smarts, the epic debate continued. High probability shortterm trading strategies raschke, linda bradford, connors, laurence a. Besides since i have book smarts i can just memorize what street smart characters do in books and imitate them in the proper situation. Youve been tested and have a bank of courage to depend on when you are tested again.
Being street smart puts you at the centre of the knowledge. The street smart superrich credit the book smart for their mastery of a sophisticated topic, which is why they hire these. Book smart person is a gobbler of books who is well educated. Every day i get terrible grades and keep asking myself why i shouldnt just drop out and become a finance major or something. Book smart requires extensive knowledge of rules and vocabulary in order to achieve a result or impress other people.
Now, its time for words and their stories from voa learning english. Book smart vs street smart essay research paper example. Have you ever heard some call someone else book smart or street smart. He might have problem putting his knowledge into real world. Im going to guess, based on my own experiences, that it is pretty often.
Street smart the psychology of good and bad judgment. Some people are analytically intelligent or book smart. However, the underlying idea is that the person deals with situations especially bad or difficult situations from an intellectual d. It solely is a theoretical understanding of facts or ideas. This distinction is a direct challenge by the youth to the dominant discourse of smartness or book smarts as it operates in schools. He persuades his views to the readers by using his personal. Street smarts trump book smarts if you want to get. 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. He too knows the situation in and out but the difference is that he experienced it practically instead of reading from sources. In fact, the online oxford dictionary defines being book smart as having a lot of academic knowledge learned from books and studying, but not. He states, the need to prove i was smart and the fear of a beating if i proved it too well. All engineers are smart usually in math at this point i ask myself, what is considered smart. You have a good head on your shoulders, and as long as you trust your instincts, you know youll be fine in this world.
To be book smart or streetsmart the debate on this topic has been going on. On a saturday morning in december 1973, a section of new yorks west side highway collapsed under the weight of a. Does your knowledge come from the streets or the books. Being street smart means having interest in other activities more than in school work, while being book smart is the complete opposite of that. They are designed and operated to enable safe access for all users, including pedestrians, bicyclists, motorists and transit riders of all ages and abilities.
I really like when graff says, every street smart student has just as much potential as a book smart student, and knowledge does not just come through the classroom, but through everyday experiences. On this program we talk about words and expressions that we use in everyda. Street smarts do win the race against book smarts but it is the combination of two that does the wonder. In the end, though the street smart folks made an impressive showing, it was a book smart contestant who walked away with the prize. How many times do you hear people trying to distinguish the difference between being book smart and street smart.
They allow buses to run on time and make continued. Which one do you think is more important between eq and iq for the success or failure in life. On this program we talk about words and expressions that we use in. Graff believes that having the personality of a street smart person can benefit society if one knows how to channel their potential correctly. Smart people think in situations where they should feel, like in relationships. Book smart people typically have a significant amount of formal classroom education a bachelors degree at minimum and have learned most of what they know about the world from book. The prime distinction between street smarts and book smarts is who is at. The authors is very persuasive using real life examples. The youth made key distinctions between being book smart vs. Learn the five mistakes that you cant afford to make in college. He has intelligent common sense, and uses it well in society. Gerald graff is an english professor at the university of illinois and has written many books. Well i try not to go outside much since im allergic to sunlight, and im majoring in materials science and engineering, so book smarts are more useful to me.
The figured world of smartness in the lives of marginalized, urban youth. I once heard someone utter the phrase, when someone says that they arent street smart, but book smart, what i really hear is, im not real smart, but im imaginary smart. When people discuss street smarts and book smarts, its usually implied that you can only have one or the other. For as the saying goes, there is a big difference between knowing a thing and. Whereas, street smarts refers to the experiential knowledge on things. This type of intelligence is used to recall or recognize, analyze, evaluate, and. Street smart versus book smart in his article hidden intellectualism, gerald graff criticizes those that do not put value into street smarts. Complete streets make it easy to cross the street, walk to shops, and bicycle to work. Why street smarts always win out over book smarts when it. The truth is, being book smart and street smart has a lot more to do than just your upbringing and personality.
Another huge distinction between book smarts and street smarts is who is in the middle of the knowledge. Book smart or street smart who would be your choice. Its not so much the everyday worries like there are evil people in the world or what if my kid gets sick or injured. Street smart definition and meaning collins english. While intelligence has been defined in many different ways including as ones capacity for logic, understanding, selfawareness, learning, emotional knowledge, planning, creativity, and problemsolving. Whats the difference between book smart and street smart. Graff says that knowledge goes far beyond academic learning and continues into our everyday living. Intelligent people often override common sense with their considerable brain power but this isnt always a good thing. Someone who is street smart knows how to deal with difficult or dangerous situations. Take this fun personality quiz to learn what kind of smarts you have. We all know that a college education is important in the competitive world we live in today. During the leadership camps which we conduct for teenagers, we often ask campers which they think is more important.