Choosing mediocrity

I have heard that students at school tend toward mediocrity in their academic subjects.  I have heard that students ostracize smart people or befriend them only to cheat from them.  I have heard that no one really wants to be one of the smart ones, so a student "dumbs himself down" in order to have a less than smart reputation.

I have not seen a correlation between academic competence and competence level later in life in one's job.  But, I have seen the same behavior from people not in a particular career field judging unquestionable competence by someone outstanding in another career field.  They get jealous; they find excuses why they can't be as outstanding in their own career field; they disparage the exhibited competence every chance they get; they attribute traits such as "arrogance" in order to villainize the outstanding person's achievements.

Don't believe me?  I'll show you an example.

That's what I thought.  Oh, he's a cheater you say.  Really?  Cheating his way to 7345 passing yards in playoff games?  Well, he's so arrogant you say?  Six categories that no one else in history has done before might just give a person a little confidence, a little swagger in his walk.  There have been other great quarterbacks and you can't compare apples to oranges you say.  Hmm.  Records have been kept for all the great quarterbacks.  So, "most in NFL history" is a standard that includes the great quarterbacks.

I have my favorite greats - Joe Montana, Roger Stabuach, Brett Favre, Fran Tarkenton, Joe Namath.  All of them have some qualities I like more than Brady's.   But those qualities don't confuse me with the facts.  There are many reasons that Brady is the most efficient, most renowned, most competent quarterback in NFL history.

In many ways the school world is merely a microcosm of the larger adult world.  Recognizing competence, expecting competence, challenging the people around you to have competence is not highly valued in the world around us.  It's no surprise at all that the smaller world of school would reflect what is seen in the adult world - mediocrity.  So, I have a hard time putting any credibility in the complaint that students are coming out with mediocre grades and performance even if it is true.  It's the trait they see in the larger world reflecting in their own.

We should be asking Brady how he does it, so that we can copy some of that competence.  If we did, we would hear him say, "Just do your job, improve, and be the best you can be."  That's what he has said on numerous occasions.  We all can do that.  It's just something we choose not to do, not to hear.