The Argument Of Intelligence In Mike Rose's Blue Collar Brilliance

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In Blue-Collar Brilliance, Mike Rose demonstrates the belief that intelligence depends on the amount of education an individual has is widespread in the population. Although this is a common held belief, Rose opposes this and states intelligence does not depend on the amount of schooling a person has. The author defends his position by stating that each job has their own skill set and people won’t see that each job requires a different ability, even if they have never experienced it. This argument is backed up by the writer’s observations such as his mother’s work place and his uncle’s job. Mike starts off by observing his mother’s, Rose Meraglio Rose, job as a waitress in a restaurant and a coffee shop. He observes how his mother handles her customers by memorizing their orders, monitoring them to …show more content…
Joe Meraglio worked with his brother at a General Motors where he used his own qualities, including: solving problems under pressure, redesigning better equipment, and learning about budgets and management (277). Although the author claims that Joe is not really good at working the machines, he did mention that his uncle is best at “hands on knowledge” (277). In a similar situation like his sister, Joe quit school and throughout his many experience of different jobs he has learned many skills that helped him in his career. The writer emphasizes his uncle’s situation in order to convey his argument in intelligence that is not related to education. Mike’s uncle and his mother’s accomplishments, show how intelligence does not depend on the amount of education someone has. In fact, Rose has shown this by observing how each person has their own set of skills to help them succeed in their daily jobs. According to Mike Rose “if we believe everyday work to be mindless, then that will affect the work we create in the future”
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