Seattle is one of the most college-educated big cities in the nation, according to a survey released Monday by the U.S. Census Bureau.
The 2002 survey shows that 48.8 percent of Seattle's 25-and-older population has at least a bachelor's degree, compared to a national college graduation rate of 25.9 percent.I'm still wondering how Seattle's high concentration of college graduates explains such phenomena as eight-term Congressman "Baghdad Jim" McDermott, the Moronorail and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
Are the people of Seattle really smarter than the rest of the country? Or is there a systemic failure in our higher education system?
Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at May 11, 2004 10:22 AMCould just be that Seattle is one of the smaller "big" cities and it has three sizable universities, many of whose graduates (like me) stay in town. But getting a degree in "peace studies" or "multicultural studies" doesn't say much about your intelligence, just your politics. McDermott keeps getting elected because Seattleites are just as paranoid as him and want a utopian paradise amidst a sea of red-state reactionaries.
Posted by: Greg Piper on May 11, 2004 01:19 PMOr maybe it says something about the leftist indoctrination that occurs at many institutions of higher education.
Some of us outgrow it, but some don't. Starting with a higher baseline percentage having been indoctrinated leaves a higher percentage to support Baghdad Jim, the PI etc.
Posted by: kam on May 11, 2004 05:38 PMThe key is to not confuse 'education' with 'intelligence'. Education provides information which a person can take advantage of using the intelligence they were born with. In your piece, you are talking specifically about formal education. Those who don't live at universities know that there are many other ways to obtain an education than to go to a university and obtain a degree. Those who don't live at universities also know that having a degree does not increase your natural intelligence one iota, though it can provide you with very specialized information about certain things, which your intelligence can use to your benefit.
I am a born and bred Seattleite and also am over-educated. Fortunately for me, I have also been out in the real world (outside of the Puget Sound) long enough to know that my Formal Education does not make me a higher form of human being than less-formally-educated people. I think it's worth noting that many of the most successful people in the world did not need a formal education or advanced degrees (Bill Gates for one!) to achieve their success.
Jim McDermott has everything to do with the type of education Seattleites receive, not the inherent intelligence the natives may or may not possess (which I believe is what you were referring to when you said "I'm still wondering how Seattle's high concentration of college graduates explains such phenomena as eight-term Congressman "Baghdad Jim" McDermott, the Moronorail and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.")
Posted by: Mark on May 12, 2004 05:01 PM