IgnoredOne said:
TheSolitaryMan said:
Depends on what you mean by "society". If you mean the mass media, yes.
Its a pity that Western media does not extol the workers of our technological underpinnings, because the same 'cool' people would not be broadcasted on TV(nor would a TV exist) if not for engineers.
I've always found it strange (and sad, I suppose) that society seems to value the basest human attributes and instincts far more than things like intelligence and practical design creativity.
If you've got hawt muscles and a scandal to your name, you can bet on getting as much media exposure as you want. People will probably adore you in some circles.
If you're smart and talented? Perhaps you'll be rich, but you'll rarely get genuine recognition amongst the masses. Resentment and dislike, perhaps.
My school, for example, never gave out any awards for people who got top academic grades or anything. It was always just sports achievements, music achievements, stuff like that. Made me feel pretty left out, because those were back in the good ol' days where I was hitting the top scores in most things, but I never got any recognition at all.
How much harder would all these "uneducated" people work, how much further would they go, if they were taught the enormous importance and value of people like Edison, Bohr, Newton, Einstein, Davy...?
Perhaps if those people were encouraged to be their role models instead of *
nobody on X Factor* things would change for the better.
If anything, I think being academic makes your life harder when it comes to interacting with society due to the ignorant attitudes that are prevalent. You just have to look at the woman who was on University Challenge recently, getting all the questions right...did people respect and admire her? No, she got death threats!
I wonder if it's just because when it comes down to it, media wants to appeal instantly (and without the effort of changing opinions) to the easiest and largest audience it can...I.E. the uninformed.
