Think Again?

Recently I read the article, Think Again by William Deresiewicz and I am confused. I really like Mr. Deresiewicz’s writing; his articles, Solitude and Leadership and The Disadvantages of an Elite Education are brilliant. His ideas are coherent, his career admirable, and his use of words inspiring. This is why I am confused; in 533 words he praises Portland for its beautification projects and insults New York. In his next breath he backhands Portland for being poorly educated while praises New York down to the airport workers for being ‘on the ball’ intellectually.

The first part of the article that made me think again was, “Portland, to be blunt about it, is not exactly bursting at the seams with intellect. As another transplant recently remarked, the people are too provincial, too poorly educated, and too apt to take personally arguments about ideas.”

Too provincial. I find this funny because I joke that I live in the provinces; Arizona, according to many outside the state, is not known for its intellectual thought or progressive ideas (I use the term progressive here non-politically; forward thinking). With my self-deprecation out of the way I get tired of the major media outlets discounting 70% of the country and focusing on the coasts. I understand that the northeast, Los Angeles, and the San Francisco megaregions contain 30% of the US population and are the political, technological, and media centers of the country but there is plenty of culture and brilliant people to be found else, even in the provinces.

Too poorly educated; I don’t know where to start. New York is an old city for the United States and has been one of the global centers of capitalism for a long time. With age and wealth comes philanthropy and investment into higher education; the number of well-renown undergraduate and graduate institutions is too long to list. Portland on the other other hand is a moderately sized western city with enough higher education institutions to meet the needs of the population with the two major state institutions located a few hours south.

Continuing with the too poorly educated, in Portland, between the ages of 25 and 34, 46.7% have a bachelors degree or higher while 50.4% have a bachelors of higher between the ages of 35 to 44. In New York, between the ages 25 and 34, 46% have a bachelors degree or higher while 37.6% have a bachelors degree or higher between the ages of 34 to 44. What do these numbers tell us? On average Portland is more educated than New York. The difference is, of course, is that New York is 13 times larger than Portland and New York attracts students from all around the world to attend its numerous highly acclaimed institutions.

The other quote that made me think again was, “It’s remarkable how pleasant things can be when people put aside their selfishness and think about the common good. You don’t have to be a genius. You just have to not be a dick.”

Few problems in this world truly require geniuses;simple logic, friendly cooperation, and strong leadership usually save the day. Maybe the point of the article is that we all have to take a moment and just think and act for the common good. New York, with its might, money, and splendor can’t seem to get it right when it comes to urban beautification while Portland, which to many does not have might, money, or splendor has gotten it right.

As Mr. Deresiewicz said, maybe the key is that you have to “act for the common good” and “not be a dick.” I am guessing that not all people in Portland act for the common good and there are dicks everywhere, but if you live in Portland as an adult it is a lifestyle choice. And when it comes to education this might be another choice; maybe people in Portland feel like they do not have to be the smartest dick in the room while in New York even the airport workers have to prove themselves to strangers.