How is it possible to be wrong about every. single. thing.

[Burney]

Iz it coz he iz black, Monty?

Went to Harvard Law School so he ain't stupid. What's he done?

Diane Abbot went to Cambridge. She is stupid. These things are not incompatible.

[WES]

Diane Abbot went to Cambridge. She is stupid. These things are not incompatible.

Yeah but in her case she *must* have gone as part of some special program for stupid minorities. Must have.

[Burney]

He's clearly a fúcking genius.

I do get sick of this notion that where somebody went to school or university is proof of intelligence. It is - apart from anything else - fantastically reductive.

The other day I was thinking about it and realised that many of the people whose intelligence I most respect have never been near a university. Equally, I know a number of people with PhDs I wouldn't leave alone with a box of matches.

Much of what we laughingly call education consists of box-ticking exercises and is in and of itself no proof of intelligence whatsoever.

[Burney]

Yeah but in her case she *must* have gone as part of some special program for stupid minorities. Must have.

See also: David Lammy.

[WES]

See also: David Lammy.

Well, I have no idea who he is or how he got in but getting into Harvard law School is no easy feat and much less likely to be achieved by someone as thick as Diane Abbott I would think.

Cambridge, I'm willing to bet, has a disadvantaged minority program which someone like Abbott could take advantage of.

[WES]

I do get sick of this notion that where somebody went to school or university is proof of intelligence. It is - apart from anything else - fantastically reductive.

The other day I was thinking about it and realised that many of the people whose intelligence I most respect have never been near a university. Equally, I know a number of people with PhDs I wouldn't leave alone with a box of matches.

Much of what we laughingly call education consists of box-ticking exercises and is in and of itself no proof of intelligence whatsoever.

But you aren't making the argument that people with degrees are not more likely to be intelligent than those that do not, are you?

Because you know that isn't true.

[Burney]

Well, I have no idea who he is or how he got in but getting into Harvard law School is no easy feat and much less likely to be achieved by someone as thick as Diane Abbott I would think.

Cambridge, I'm willing to bet, has a disadvantaged minority program which someone like Abbott could take advantage of.

He is a blustering, race-baiting moron incapable of mustering a single cogent argument that cannot be torn to pieces by a moment's logical thought. However, when such logical dissection of his points takes place, he immediately cries racism.

He also supports Tottenham.

Let's say this: if he's some kind of genius, he's hiding it fúcking well.

[Burney]

But you aren't making the argument that people with degrees are not more likely to be intelligent than those that do not, are you?

Because you know that isn't true.

No, I'm not making that argument. There is obviously a level of intelligence required to get past a certain point of educational attainment that some people simply do not have and thus will never get to university.

Excluding that section of society, however, my experience is that I've found exactly the same number of stupid people with degrees as without.

[Sir C]

I do get sick of this notion that where somebody went to school or university is proof of intelligence. It is - apart from anything else - fantastically reductive.

The other day I was thinking about it and realised that many of the people whose intelligence I most respect have never been near a university. Equally, I know a number of people with PhDs I wouldn't leave alone with a box of matches.

Much of what we laughingly call education consists of box-ticking exercises and is in and of itself no proof of intelligence whatsoever.

Gracious me, yes. And of course the whole thing is exacerbated by Comrade Blair's insistence that everyone have a degree. Within my own family there are people with degrees who struggle to operate anything more complex than a tea towel.

[redgunamo]

It's more that people's apparent definition of "intelligence" is far too narrow.

But you aren't making the argument that people with degrees are not more likely to be intelligent than those that do not, are you?

Because you know that isn't true.