Your Success Probably Didn’t Come From Merit Alone

Smartness Construct

The concept of smartness is often seen as a fixed trait, but Tressie McMillan Cottom argues that it is socially constructed and deeply tied to societal structures. She emphasizes that intelligence is shaped by educational systems and political decisions, rather than being an inherent quality. This perspective challenges us to reconsider how we value intelligence and the societal investments needed to nurture it 1.

Smart is like a social problem. We make smart. We make smart with schools, we make smart with our political decisions and choices.

--- Tressie McMillan Cottom

Ezra Klein adds that our tendency to categorize people can lead to rigid thinking, which often misguides societal debates and policies 2.

   

Social Implications

The societal implications of how intelligence is perceived can significantly affect social mobility and economic opportunities. Tressie McMillan Cottom reflects on her grandmother's life, illustrating how cultural perceptions of intelligence and worth can limit opportunities 3. Her grandmother, despite being a voracious reader and intelligent, was confined to roles that society deemed suitable for her.

My success is always limited by how well other people can imagine the possibility of me when people could not imagine my grandmother.

--- Tressie McMillan Cottom

This highlights the contingent nature of success and the importance of societal imagination in shaping individual destinies 4.