Summary: The Geography Of Genius

Kunstler, James Howard. The Geography of Nowhere: The Rise and Decline of America's Man-Made Landscape. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1993. Print.

The Five Themes of Geography are: Location – Absolute points on a map or grid or Relative to where something may be; Place – The physical and/or human characteristics of a locations; Human/Environment Interactions – How humans have impacted the landscape or environment; Relationship between places Movement – How humans interact on the earth (i.e. how they communicate over distance (short or long)) and Regions – a unit of space that has commonalities defined by physical, human and environmental geography. The Explorers of the New World may have not known what the Five Themes of Geography were but they quickly learned. Of the five themes the ones that they all took advantage of was the physical Location and Place as they learned to navigate

The issue being debated in the article “Hidden Intellectualism” by Gerald Graff is street smarts versus book smarts. Gerald Graff is an English professor at the University of Illinois and has written many books. The author claims that people are better off if they are more street smart than book smart. The authors is very persuasive using real life examples. I although disagree with this claim. I think that you need an equal mix of both street and book smarts.

Society’s view on intelligence is becoming watered down from the truth. In Rose’s article, “Blue Collar Brilliance” Rose discusses societies outlook on intelligence. Rose explains how society thinks blue collared jobs don’t involve any intelligence, and anyone can do a blue collared job. He explains how society thinks that since you don’t have to have a high education to perform well in blue collared jobs, it takes little to no intelligence. Rose says, “We reinforce this notion by defining intelligence solely on grades in school and numbers on IQ test” (Rose 279). Rose explains that even though most blue collared jobs don’t require a college degree, they still demand many forms of intelligence. Rose also explains how his brother dropped out of school in the ninth grade but eventually became a successful employee of the company General Motors. In Graff’s article, “Hidden Intellectualism” he explains how there are many students in today’s world who have an outstanding amount of “street smarts” but are failing school. He explains

"The fear of failing to succeed keeps people from realizing their Personal Legend and fulfilling it to be happy. " This, the theme of the book "The Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho, is contributed to by the geography featured in the novel. Thomas C. Foster's book "How to Read Literature Like a Professor" describes geography in literature being 'about humans inhabiting spaces, and at the same time the spaces inhabiting humans' (page 174, HTRLLAP). Simply, geography usually affects the decisions of characters, along with most elements of a story, such as plot and theme. The geography of "The Alchemist" greatly influences the characters along with the theme; the barren desert of Egypt causes characters to act more cautious.

In conclusion, I agree with Mike Roses' Essay “Blue Collar Brilliance” because in my own personal life experiences I have seen first hand that you do not have to be well educated to be intelligent. My spouse works as a garbage man and at first glance you would never know how intelligent he is just by his profession, but he is very skilled from everything to troubleshooting mechanical equipment to carrying on philosophical conversations and religious

Academic work should not define intelligence nor should a job define ability; a person, regardless of grades, degrees, or job title, is an intellect. Together, Gerald Graff, a coauthor of They Say I say, professor, and former anti-intellect, author of "Hidden Intellectualism," and Mike Rose, professor, author, and in depth thinker, author of "Blue-Collar Brilliance," share two different perspectives on what an intellect truly is. Yet, both writings hold meaningful points and experiences to prove who qualifies to be an intellect. Society continuously focuses on what leads to a successful and rounded life: go to school, graduate, go back to school, get a degree, and then a job. It is believed that these high expectations of higher academics enables one to be more successful is correct; however, it is not. It is a person’s individual goals that give them the success they wish to have whether that be education, volunteering, or donating. Also, street smarts is not to be overlooked; a person with common sense can know more than a Doctor. Typically, a person can have either common sense or intelligence, not both. Street smarts is, without a doubt, a superior quality to possess as it encompasses more in life than just a degree does. For example, it is more appropriate to know how to cross a street properly in life than know how to perform a craniotomy. Furthermore, one does not gain knowledge and life lessons through school alone, but through experience,

In society, there is an expectation that one must obtain an education to become an intelligent and successful individual. The amount of intelligence you obtain, according to society, is dependent on the type of school or how long an individual attends school. Society has this idea that you can not be successful without an education and they only way to become successful is if you are educated. To Rose however, this is not the case. Rose succeeds in convincing his audience that receiving an education does not mean more intelligence and success.

What about those individuals that are academically gifted but are unable to care for themselves, are they well educated? To be educated shouldn’t one be both academic and practical. I am not saying that one must possess a college degree because I know for some that this is not possible, and for some this opportunity may not come until later in life. One should possess basic knowledge that we obtain from school. We need to know about the past so that that following generations do not repeat it. We also need to know math and reading so that we can communicate as a society. Science, also important so that we understand how things function as a whole and why. As for practical knowledge, people need to know how to take care of themselves the basic survival needs. It goes back to the survival of the fittest. There are too many young adults being sent into the world unable to fend for themselves. They can’t cook, clean up after themselves or even do their own laundry.

Many cultures express to people at a young age those with “book smarts” are far more intelligent than those who are “street smart.” It is a common misconception that one must rely solely on academia to be considered an intellectual. In the essay “Hidden Intellectualism,” Gerald Graff proposes, “street smarts beat out book smarts” (268). Learning from everyday life, whether good or bad, and cultivating ways to adapt or overcome life’s obstacles is a true sign of intelligence. Life experiences contribute to the evolution of character that defines people. Intelligence should not be solely based on institutional learning but in conjunction with real life experiences and self-development from personal interests.

Gladwell reveals that to excel in the world, one must be born with or introduced to the right tools. These tools may include being born into a high class home, when one is born, as well as being recognized early in school. When Lewis Terman, in 1921, conducted the Genetic Study of Genius observation, he only took into account the subjects I.Q. scores. It wasn’t until later, when he noticed the divergence of three different groups A, B, and C, did he realize that it wasn’t only about scores. The groups were separated by societal class, group A born from the high end of the scale while C was from the lower end. Group A, as well as most of B, did superb at the same time that group C fell out. Intelligence

According to Enrico Moretti 's ground breaking book, “The New Geography of Jobs,” manufacturing sector companies have been superseded in the knowledge economy by innovation sector companies. While they were once the holy grail of community planners, manufacturing sector companies are no longer the ideal economic model.

Geography is an important factor to consider when you look at this worlds past, present, or future. So whether it be the earths physical geographic features, the geopolitics stirring up trouble across the globe, or the economics of growing or shrinking countries; geography plays a major role. In todays society, geographic knowledge is one of the most important and valuable tools to possess. Without it, we are victims of ignorance and endanger ourselves, others, and the world. This ignorance, possessed by many, is posing a great risk of self-destruction. The author of “Why Geography Matters More Than Ever”, Harm de Blij, makes many strong points on this matter, but occasionally makes unsupported and unclear statements which tend to stray off topic.

This amazing country known as Denmark is an awesome place to live and be able to enjoy. This essay will be outlining the five themes of geography. The five themes of geography are the following: location, place (what its like), region (how it is similar or different to the United States), movement, (move from one place to another), lastly the human environmental interactions (both good and bad human environmental interactions). Denmark has a very interesting history to talk about.

Albert Einstein wrote, “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”