Intellectualism
Education seems to be a common thread that all the bloggers seem to agree. We all tend to agree that it is:
(1) Usually associated with increased economic success
(2) A means for some to get out of their bad social situations
(3) Provides society with more potential for taking care of ourselves
(4) Helps create a better society to live in
I also think that most would agree that Education may take on different forms. For some, it may be college, for others trade school, and for some it may be a combination or other type of program. But I think we all agree that the chances of success are directly correlated with increasing post-secondary education. The more you have, the more potential there is.
Examples include teachers with a B.S. vs. Masters vs. Doctorate. Typically the more education, the better position and higher Salary. This tends to apply in most fields of study although there are exceptions.
I never hear many people complain about someone advancing their educational status in order for increased economic potential. Persons in business are always looking for ways to grow both intellectually and financially. This seems to go hand in hand with not much controversy.
But when it comes to Physicians, there seems to be a double standard. On average, every Physician has more formal schooling than virtually all other professions. Yet when they tend to make more money than other professions, it seems to irritate a lot of people.
Minimum starting salaries for professional Basketball players is $220,000, Baseball is $109,000, Hockey $125,000 and Football $131,000. Data was taken from (www.cambridge.org/elt/strategicreading/ SR%20downloads/SB1_Unit04.pdf).
Lawyers can spend 3 years after college and then begin practicing law with virtually endless economic potential depending on their law specialty. No one seems to question or find this aberrant. CEO's of Floyd, Clark, Norton and Jewish hospitals make well in excess of $250,000 with additional incentive bonuses. Physicians spend 4 years in Medical School and then a minimum of 3 years in residency training before they can begin to practice. They deal with life and death situations on a daily basis and are probably sued more than any other professional. Yet when they are financially successful, it seems to irritate many people
Why shouldn’t they have the potential to make more money if we truly believe that financial success is correlated with intellectual training? Is it because there truly is a dichotomy of thinking, a real double standard, or because our society has lost the value of health and thinks it should be guaranteed by the government.
For too long, many people paid little to nothing for their health insurance, medicines and doctor visits. The natural inclination of people is to devalue things that are free or take them for granted. That is what has happened to medicine.
Intellectualism has been characterized by the emphasis on experience and reason, mistrust of religion and traditional authority, and a gradual emergence of the ideals of liberal, secular, democratic societies.
Intellectualism has its limits and is not the answer to everything we experience in life!!
(1) Usually associated with increased economic success
(2) A means for some to get out of their bad social situations
(3) Provides society with more potential for taking care of ourselves
(4) Helps create a better society to live in
I also think that most would agree that Education may take on different forms. For some, it may be college, for others trade school, and for some it may be a combination or other type of program. But I think we all agree that the chances of success are directly correlated with increasing post-secondary education. The more you have, the more potential there is.
Examples include teachers with a B.S. vs. Masters vs. Doctorate. Typically the more education, the better position and higher Salary. This tends to apply in most fields of study although there are exceptions.
I never hear many people complain about someone advancing their educational status in order for increased economic potential. Persons in business are always looking for ways to grow both intellectually and financially. This seems to go hand in hand with not much controversy.
But when it comes to Physicians, there seems to be a double standard. On average, every Physician has more formal schooling than virtually all other professions. Yet when they tend to make more money than other professions, it seems to irritate a lot of people.
Minimum starting salaries for professional Basketball players is $220,000, Baseball is $109,000, Hockey $125,000 and Football $131,000. Data was taken from (www.cambridge.org/elt/strategicreading/ SR%20downloads/SB1_Unit04.pdf).
Lawyers can spend 3 years after college and then begin practicing law with virtually endless economic potential depending on their law specialty. No one seems to question or find this aberrant. CEO's of Floyd, Clark, Norton and Jewish hospitals make well in excess of $250,000 with additional incentive bonuses. Physicians spend 4 years in Medical School and then a minimum of 3 years in residency training before they can begin to practice. They deal with life and death situations on a daily basis and are probably sued more than any other professional. Yet when they are financially successful, it seems to irritate many people
Why shouldn’t they have the potential to make more money if we truly believe that financial success is correlated with intellectual training? Is it because there truly is a dichotomy of thinking, a real double standard, or because our society has lost the value of health and thinks it should be guaranteed by the government.
For too long, many people paid little to nothing for their health insurance, medicines and doctor visits. The natural inclination of people is to devalue things that are free or take them for granted. That is what has happened to medicine.
Intellectualism has been characterized by the emphasis on experience and reason, mistrust of religion and traditional authority, and a gradual emergence of the ideals of liberal, secular, democratic societies.
Intellectualism has its limits and is not the answer to everything we experience in life!!
posted by Anonymous at 4:21 AM
4 Comments:
I'm with Brandon on this one. You have two arguments, i.e., education and perceptions of physician remuneration AND intellectualism.
Which one are we discussing?
Please include an opinion on the profit motive in the context of medical practice.
I'm neither opposed to a doctor making money, nor to an athlete being overpaid. In the case of the athlete, it's an entertainment option, and we choose to pay into a system that supports the salary. We may opt out at any time, and the entertainment business model will suffer.
Same deal for medical care? Who pays, and who doesn't -- and do we have a choice, as when not buying basketball tickets?
I don't see the connection between this statement and the rest of the post. What are you really trying to say?
That was my reaction precisely. You seem to be trying to make disparate points here.
The first is primarily a protest against envy and misunderstanding of medical doctors.
On the second, I simply can't understand your point. Who among us has been advocating for intellectualism?
Is yours a cautionary reaction to the criticism of anti-intellectualism? Do you find that criticism unfair? If you do, take it on where you find it.
Drive-by shootings can sometimes be random, but yours is so cryptic that motive comes into play.
This particular definition of intellectualism is described in Oxford.
My main point is that from numerous other blogs especially referring to certain city leaders and troglidites, there is criticism regarding their intellect and lack thereof in some cases. And after following some of the blogs, it appears that some think Intellect and human reason should be sufficient to solve all of our problems.
So by using purely intellect (education), my intention was to contradict the current thinking by pointing out what I see as a double standard in some very intelligent peoples reasoning related to the topic on salaries and education.
It has been apparent from my reading on the blogs that intelligence and education hold a high priority and seems to be a standard on which some are judged.
The other part of this discussion is the fact I believe that intellect is not the answer to everything. Emotions play a huge role and have clearly been seen in the responses to this discussion and many others on the blogs. Intellectualism fails to adequately explain human emotions (love, hate, shyness, passion, etc), free-will, “coincidences” and spirituality. But these things still exist and contribute to all of our thinking and decisions.
“The eye sees what the mind knows”
If we limit ourselves to only intellect, then we do ourselves a disservice.
Mr. Smith,
Even if you've heard it a thousand times, I want to reinforce it once more because your comment was exactly what I am referring to.
Why do people immediately place these things at polar opposites.
It is not mind vs. spirit, it is mind and spirit, head and heart, science and religion.
They coexist, they are not independent. We need them both and we should acknowledge them both.
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