As we were discussing intelligence in class we got on the topic of street smarts vs book smarts in what makes a person intelligent and characteristics of the smartest people we know. This got me thinking and peaked my interest into if one really is better than the other. Is it better to be more street smart or more book smart? Can one type of intelligence be better than another? Book smarts being described as factual and intellectual knowledge coming from formal education. Street smarts being described as knowledge from life experience and risk taking. I will take you through a few articles opinions and then give you what my concluding determination of if one type of intelligence can be better than the other.
In my research, the overwhelming majority of articles conclude that street smarts are much more valuable and useful than book smarts. One article goes as far as to claim, “street smarts kicks book smarts ass” (Berkun 2010). I’d have to say that I would agree in my own opinion. I have always believed that street smarts were more valuable and would get you further in life than a reliance on book smarts alone. I have always seen book smarts as theoretical and street smarts as actual and practical. You can have ample book knowledge, but if you’ve never been able to use or practice the knowledge then it is not solidified. When learning by experience and gaining street smarts you learn by experience, risk taking, taking what has happened to you and learning form it (Berkun 2010). One point this article made was to discuss the source of the different knowledges “On the street, it’s you. In a book it’s you trying to absorb someone else’s take on the world, and however amazing the writer is, you are at best one degree removed from the actual experience. Street smarts means you’ve put yourself at risk and survived. Or thrived. Or have scars. You’ve been tested and have a bank of courage to depend on when you are tested again” (Berkun 2010). I think this is really important and a key reason why street smarts is seen as superior, it is strength within and experiences you learned from.
Another source (Hudson 2014), discusses the importance of street smarts in being successful. They use the example of an entrepreneur which I found quite interesting. To become an entrepreneur, you do have to be book smart to start a business, but that isn’t all you have to have. Just factually knowing how to work and open a business does not even being to compare to all of the street smarts that are needed to be successful as an entrepreneur. To be successful they need to be able to read situations and business markets, know how to interact with others, know when to be aggressive or passive in a market, along with many other street-smart knowledge that is needed.
CNN also pipped in on the topic. They took the angle looking in on the topic of street smarts vs book smarts on the job market. When looking at two candidates if all things were equal besides one having a MBA from Harvard and one having a community college MBA it would be common to pick to more book smart Harvard MBA recipient (Book Smarts 2005). However, hiring cases are never like that and there are many factors to always consider, they wrote “don’t measure candidates by their education or years of experience as by their achievements and results” (Book Smarts 2005). It is more important to look at the results and what they have been able to experience and achieve through their career than what they may know in book knowledge. Showing that in a career setting street smarts really do win over solitary book smarts. “An advanced degree – especially from a prestigious university will definitely open doors, but in the end, it really doesn’t matter how much education […] you have. Its what you do with it that matters” (Book Smarts 2005).
There were ample articles, blogs, and videos covering the topic, however what is lacking was scholarly or academic journals discussing it. I did find one journal article relating to a similar topic. They looked at how students in an urban school viewed the differences between students that are street smart and those that are book smart. 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 cultures (Hatt 2007). Book smarts were seen as those who were going to be successful in life in an academic and job setting while those with street smarts were those that were going to be able to navigate life in difficult situations or in situations that need guidance from experience. They didn’t discuss which is better than the other, but that each has its own connotations and have different situations where they are better suited.
Now, taking all of this information and opinions to put a cognitive psychology interpretation on it. Can one type of smarts or intelligence really be better than the other? Form the opinions and information given, I would say no. There are different types of intelligences and as we discussed in class people are different and have different strengths in different intelligence areas. I would say if you had to choose, pick a little of both. Be somewhere in the middle. That way you can have the best of both worlds, the book and factual knowledge along with the street and experience knowledge. In class we defined intelligence as “The ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly and learn from experience” which I think involves both book smarts and street smarts. Of course, we cannot know or pick what intelligences we have, but having more street or book smarts does not make one person smarter or better than another. However, it is what makes us different and what makes us each successful and “intelligent” in our own ways. So, whether you may be street smart or book smart it doesn’t really matter as long as you use your intelligence to your own success.
Thoughts?
