The Curse of Intelligence

Filipinos have always been known for placing a high premium on education. One does not need to be an anthropologist to know that. If one only bothers to cast a cursory glance at the facade of his neighbors' houses, one would instantly notice a common sight: a metal or wooden plate indicating that a son or daughter has made the grade by becoming a physician, an attorney-at-law, or an engineer.

The Filipino attitude towards education can also be gleaned from the high respect accorded to people with long strings of suffixes attached to their names (MA, Ed.D., Ph.D, etc.). We believe that the achievements embodied in those suffixes make their owners a cut above other mortals. That is why, in addressing them in correspondences, or in introducing them during formal functions, omission of those suffixes is considered a horrible mistake.  

This "fetish" for education or its trappings, however, is quite understandable. In a country where poverty is rampant, and manual labor is looked down upon, education--especially college or postgraduate education -- is often seen as a way out of the vicious cycle of poverty. In a very real sense, this is true for many of our compatriots. Many Filipino families were indeed able to extricate themselves from the clutches of poverty through education. However, it would be a great folly to think that the age-old problem of poverty in the country could be solved by sending at least one member of every family to college. But that is a topic best left for another post.

In light of these observations, therefore, it is almost incomprehensible that a strange behavior characterized by disdain for intelligent people, or a form of anti-intellectualism, has taken hold of a sizable portion of our country's population of late. Many Filipinos of today seem to hold the country's intellectuals-- professors, writers, artists--in low regard. This especially applies to those who are vocal about issues besetting the nation. Whenever a well-respected professor from the country's premiere university expresses his disapproval of the government's policies through his column in a major online news website, for instance, one can bet his life that the comments section would be inundated by negative comments in no time. The comments would most likely contain insults to the intelligence, the appearance, and integrity of the professor. Comments blaming the professor for all the country's ills are also not uncommon. Conveniently ignored is the fact that the traditional politicians and their elite backers are the ones who have been calling the shots for decades in this country, and not the intellectuals .

However, the country's intellectuals are not the only ones that are being bullied into silence by self-styled patriotic Filipinos of today. Even students who are capable of thinking for themselves and who are brave enough to express their thoughts in the streets or on social media platforms are also common targets of vicious attacks. The attackers would usually call out the students for their supposed ingratitude to the government. Peppering their comments with phrases such as "mag-aral na lang" (just study), "salot sa lipunan" (plague of society), "eh di ikaw na" (you are the bright one), they would reproach the students for "fighting" the government, when it is to the government that the student owes the opportunity of being able to study in a prestigious university like UP. Of course, such idea is preposterous, to say the least.

At present, therefore, the Philippines is no country for intelligent men (and women, of course), to borrow the title of one of my favorite films. In order to live normally, avoid accusations of being a know-it-all, out of touch misfit, if not a communist instigator or rebel, one must learn to bow his head and keep his thoughts to himself at all times. It goes without saying that this is an extremely difficult task. For to deny one's thoughts and feelings is to deny one's own individuality. And without being able to express one's individuality, a person can never live a truly happy and satisfying life.  

Ruminating on the predicament  experienced by intelligent Filipinos at present reminded me of a poem I wrote more than a decade ago. In this poem, I tried to describe the hardships experienced by people who were cursed with higher intelligence. Whether I succeeded in doing so or not is for you to decide. Thanks for reading. Cheers!

The Valedictorian

 

she stands on stage behind the podium,

glancing down at the sea of gawking faces.

she must have been brilliant

 

and beautiful that afternoon they’ve all gone

dumb. but it is only for a moment, and soon

the crowd explodes into applause. She stays

 

where she is standing a bit longer

and ponders: isn’t it a good thing to be

bright and to have everything? but she knows

 

the answer more than she thinks she does.

‘cause there she is on stage, behind the podium,

showered with praises, admired, but 

 

alone. W