Ron’s Blog

High Cultcha

We like to think Oz is a smart enough kid.  But we’ve been getting some “he’s so smart” stuff from people that seems oddly misplaced, and all about “culture”.

So, here’s the deal:  Last winter, I grabbed the kids’ book Lives of the Artists: Masterpieces, Messes (and What the Neighbors Thought) off the shelf in the library on a whim — he’d been doing a little “lives of the Presidents” reading, and this seemed like a fun branching out.  After starting at the end with Andy Warhol — including his 400 wigs, many cats, and birthday-cake snacks — Oz was hooked, and after reading that one, we moved on to Mike Venezia’s very nice childrens’ series Getting to Know the World’s Greatest Artists.

Now, having finished those, Oz knows stuff about a bunch of famous artists and some of their works — you know, like “Hey Dad, look, it’s van Gogh’s Starry Night on that calendar”.  And this is what gets the “he’s so smart” reaction.  Now, it’s not like it’s any harder cognitively to recognize Starry Night than to recognize and remember the 1000 logos of products and sports teams that every well-socialized 7-year-old knows — in fact, although Oz will recognize Michelangelo’s David, he’s got no recognition at all of, say (and it shames me to say this), the logo of the Chicago Bulls.

But it’s also clear that this produces a “he’s so smart” reaction in a way that recognizing the the Bull or the Toyota logo doesn’t.  Not because it’s harder to do, or that he knows more instances, or anything like that.  No, pretty clearly it’s about recognizing icons of “high” rather than “low” culture.

There’s a product here:  “High culture flashcards for 1st-2nd graders” — get your kids labeled as “smart” today!