Part one of 'Rednecks and Intelligence'.

[helgatwb]

The first thing I should do is to establish my credentials. I am an intelligent redneck woman, who has lived in the Deep South for all of my life. I know rednecks.

So. Rednecks, intelligence, and their reactions/attitudes to same. And, my theories as to the reasons behind these reactions. I have encountered four different types of rednecks as far as an attitude to intelligence is concerned.

Type 1: The most common type, the one everyone knows about. They disdain intelligence, and almost seem to hate it. They can be cruel to smart people, and seem to resent and distrust them.

Theories: My main theory is that many of these people don’t learn well in an institutional setting. They are kinesthetic learners or tactile learners. Some even seem to use scent and taste. They move when trying to learn. Or need to take things apart. Or they seem to smell and lick everything. This makes them very hard to teach in a standard school setting. They are labeled as ‘unteachable’, ‘unintelligent’, ‘disruptive’, and ‘uncooperative’. They aren’t any of these things, but the system gives up on them, so they give up on the system. They have no patience for ‘book-larnin’. This attitude gets passed down and permeates the entire culture. If they do have a child that has a more typical learning style, well. It’s hell.

Comments

Hmm...

[ysabetwordsmith]

I have certainly known these.

But here's something fascinating ... in Terramagne those leanings don't always add up to anti-intellectual. I think it's because the educational system is better and other opportunities are more plentiful.

Tinji grew up licking things because of his superpower, which hadn't matured yet so nobody knew why. His body and senses are just a little different. It caused some problems, yes, but he wound up a sensitive theatre nerd street performer.

Justin is a good cop. He's smart and he learns fine. But he's scent/taste dominant and it makes some social interactions harder for him, and harder to grasp how some things are described in terms that don't resonate well for him. He's very intuitive, and again, sensitive. I have to wonder if he got hooked on scratch-and-sniff books and then branched out from there.

Turq uses his nose a lot, and not just since he gained superpowers -- he's always had the ability to taste things without licking them. Sensitive to the point of fragile, due to unfortunate past circumstances.

Shiv now, he relies on sight and touch. He doesn't listen well. He doesn't read well -- but he can learn from pictures. Problem is, so many people have told him that he's stupid and can't learn and is a worthless little miscreant that he believes it.

Re: Hmm...

[helgatwb]

Of course, I'm not a psychologist or anything, I can only speak to my own experiences and observations.

And thing might be different in Terramagne, certainly.

Re: Hmm...

[zeeth_kyrah]

Eight foci or styles for learning:

Hearing
Sight
Touch/proprioceptive
Taste and smell
Emotional (root chakra)
Environmental (belly chakra)
Spiritual energy (crown chakra)
Written/symbolic (third eye and solar plexus chakra)

That explains a lot

[shiori_makiba]

I primarily grew up in Colorado and New Mexico, I did live in Georgia as a child and I've lived in Florida for more than ten years. Mom is from here, she and her family have lived and lives in the South - mostly Florida and Virginia. So I'm pretty familiar with rednecks. And I could never figure out what exactly drove me bonkers about some of them. Now I think I do.

One of my major pet peeves is someone is acting stupid* or says they are stupid when they clearly aren't. Just makes my brain go arggg! why?! they aren't stupid - why is this person acting stupid or saying they are?!

*my definition of stupid is closer to most people's definition of lazy. If you are putting forth your best, regardless of your brain operates, then I don't consider you stupid.

Re: That explains a lot

[helgatwb]

But, when you've been told all your life that you are stupid, that the things you do are the very definition of stupid. Well.

Re: That explains a lot

[shiori_makiba]

True that. People are such jerks when someone doesn't precisely fit their little mold.

Doesn't help that those who do wish to WITH someone's learning type(s) rather than against it can only do so if they do it on their own time and expense. Or on the student's. Which often neither the student nor the teacher have.

[redsixwing]

Not south, but southwest, and yeah - I recognize this pattern.

I also recognize the way it comes out sideways, with that tactile/kinesthetic doing absolutely brilliant things in whatever they do in their spare time, and refusing to believe it's anything out of the ordinary, because "they're not smart."

Gah.

[helgatwb]

Yes, that's it exactly.