--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Americans are cultured from their…" description: "\"Americans are cultured from their earliest years to be either one-sided douloi or one-sided banausoi, i.e. either they cannot think abstractively/conce..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c2/kenny-smith-2406_benefits_americans-are-cultured-from-their-earlie_1194663.jpg" --- # Americans are cultured from their earliest years to be… ![“Americans are cultured from their earliest years to be either one-sided douloi or one-sided banausoi, i.e. either they cannot think abstractively/conceptually/orchestrally or else they can only think abstractively. Thinking in a truly rational dialectic between intuition and intellect is just…” quote by Kenny Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c2/kenny-smith-2406_benefits_americans-are-cultured-from-their-earlie_1194663.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c2/kenny-smith-2406_benefits_americans-are-cultured-from-their-earlie_1194663.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c2/kenny-smith-2406_benefits_americans-are-cultured-from-their-earlie_1194663.jpg) > “Americans are cultured from their earliest years to be either one-sided douloi or one-sided banausoi, i.e. either they cannot think abstractively/conceptually/orchestrally or else they can only think abstractively. Thinking in a truly rational dialectic between intuition and intellect is just beyond the reach of our nation of emotionalist helots. What prevails among us truly has to be called not thinking but "thinking," a pathetic surrogate for actual thinking for the benefit of existentially or modally crippled mentalities.” [Kenny Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenny-smith/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A critique of American education, claiming it produces either overly abstract thinkers or overly practical ones, lacking balanced rational thought. **In simple terms:** American schooling creates extremes, not balanced thinkers. Key Takeaway Encourage curricula that integrate intuition and intellect. Themes education critical thinking culture philosophy Mood critical analytical skeptical Type philosophical commentary When to use this quote - high school curricula - college seminars - policy debates - parental guidance Key Concepts dialectic cognitive balance intellectual development Questions to Reflect On - How can education foster both intuition and rational analysis? - What evidence supports this binary view of thinkers? A Different Perspective Oversimplifies complex educational outcomes; may ignore successes. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Benefits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/benefits/) [Called Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/called-thinking-1047554/) [Crippled](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crippled/) [Dialectics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dialectics/) [Intellect](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intellect/) [Intuition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intuition/) [Mentality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mentality/) [Nations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nations/) [One sided](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/one-sided/) [Pathetic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pathetic/) [Rational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rational/) [Surrogates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/surrogates/) [Think](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/think/) [Think Abstractively](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/think-abstractively-3558091/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Thinking Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking-thinking/) [Years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/years/) ## Related quotes > [The best kind of conversation is that which may be called thinking aloud.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/the-best-kind-of-conversation-is-that-which-may-be-called-thinking/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [I do this real moron thing, and it's called thinking. And apparently I'm not a very good American because I like to form my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-carlin/i-do-this-real-moron-thing-and-it-s-called-thinking-and-apparently-i/) [George Carlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-carlin/) > [When Talking Heads started, we called ourselves Thinking Man's Dance Music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tina-weymouth/when-talking-heads-started-we-called-ourselves-thinking-man-s-dance/) [Tina Weymouth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tina-weymouth/) > [As towards most other things of which we have but little personal experience (foreigners, or socialists, or aristocrats, as the case may be), there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vernon-lee/as-towards-most-other-things-of-which-we-have-but-little-personal/) [Vernon Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vernon-lee/) > [“None of my mental activities for the past twenty-four hours might be called thinking. I had allowed my body to take charge. It knew…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-household/none-of-my-mental-activities-for-the-past-twenty-four-hours-might-be/) [Geoffrey Household](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-household/) > [I do this real moron thing, it's called thinking, and I'm not a very good Amercian because I like to form my own opionions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-carlin/i-do-this-real-moron-thing-it-s-called-thinking-and-i-m-not-a-very/) [George Carlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-carlin/) > [“We all indulge in the strange, pleasant process called thinking, but when it comes to saying what we think, then how little we are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/we-all-indulge-in-the-strange-pleasant-process-called-thinking-but-2/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [If the process don't transfer, they cannot even be called thinking. They can be called learning, memory, or habit, but not thinking. The purpose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilyn-jager-adams/if-the-process-don-t-transfer-they-cannot-even-be-called-thinking/) [Marilyn Jager Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilyn-jager-adams/) > [We all indulge in the strange, pleasant process called thinking, but when it comes to saying, even to someone opposite, what we think, then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/we-all-indulge-in-the-strange-pleasant-process-called-thinking-but/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [I have this real moron thing I do? It's called thinking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-carlin/i-have-this-real-moron-thing-i-do-it-s-called-thinking/) [George Carlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-carlin/) > [If Judd Apatow called me, I'd do it without thinking about it. I think he does really fun movies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kimberly-elise/if-judd-apatow-called-me-i-d-do-it-without-thinking-about-it-i-think/) [Kimberly Elise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kimberly-elise/) > [“Most of our so-called thinking processes are devoted to finding excuses for going on believing as we already do. ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/most-of-our-so-called-thinking-processes-are-devoted-to-finding/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [This thing called thinking, just as you think of it, the more you think of it, the best thinking can be NOT to think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-chan-chi-san/this-thing-called-thinking-just-as-you-think-of-it-the-more-you-think/) [Jason Chan Chi-san](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-chan-chi-san/) > [Right now women are using surrogates because they can't be pregnant. What worries me is the possibility that soon they'll use surrogates because they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-weiner/right-now-women-are-using-surrogates-because-they-can-t-be-pregnant/) [Jennifer Weiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-weiner/) > [Black music has always known, and not been afraid to acknowledge just how high the stakes of Black thought are. To summarize the final…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-b-wilderson-iii/black-music-has-always-known-and-not-been-afraid-to-acknowledge-just/) [Frank B. Wilderson III](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-b-wilderson-iii/) ## More by Kenny Smith > [The approach of intellect or noesis will forever be an effete and limited sort of thing by contrast with the vigor and color of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenny-smith/the-approach-of-intellect-or-noesis-will-forever-be-an-effete-and/) [Kenny Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenny-smith/) > [One can hardly appreciate how academia has perverted its highest tasks and "ideals" without pondering long and hard the implications of Jacques Barzun's House…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenny-smith/one-can-hardly-appreciate-how-academia-has-perverted-its-highest/) [Kenny Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenny-smith/) > [When academics claim a topic is obsolete, they mean merely they are tired of flogging it with their cliches.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenny-smith/when-academics-claim-a-topic-is-obsolete-they-mean-merely-they-are/) [Kenny Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenny-smith/) > [If you look at the NBA, it's the richest and wealthiest group of African-American men in the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenny-smith/if-you-look-at-the-nba-it-s-the-richest-and-wealthiest-group-of/) [Kenny Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenny-smith/) > [In late modernity we grow more and more accustomed to politicians and public figures who are indebted to their appetites for their "values," to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenny-smith/in-late-modernity-we-grow-more-and-more-accustomed-to-politicians-and/) [Kenny Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenny-smith/) > [How infinitely happier and more grateful is the whole personality or spirit when it finds something nourishing in art or writing or thinking, than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenny-smith/how-infinitely-happier-and-more-grateful-is-the-whole-personality-or/) [Kenny Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenny-smith/) > [There are a lot more famous fathers out there than me with daughters who wouldn't mind singing careers... but the talent and the work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenny-smith/there-are-a-lot-more-famous-fathers-out-there-than-me-with-daughters/) [Kenny Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenny-smith/) > [Games like 'Call of Duty' and 'NBA Baller Beats' have so much to them. I was more of the 'Pac-Man' generation where we were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenny-smith/games-like-call-of-duty-and-nba-baller-beats-have-so-much-to-them-i/) [Kenny Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenny-smith/) > [The Rockets have a philosophy of what they think their coach should be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenny-smith/the-rockets-have-a-philosophy-of-what-they-think-their-coach-should-be/) [Kenny Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenny-smith/) > [I've played more park games than NBA games, and I had a 10-year NBA career.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenny-smith/i-ve-played-more-park-games-than-nba-games-and-i-had-a-10-year-nba/) [Kenny Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenny-smith/) > [I'm always the neutral guy, man. I'm able to bring people together.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenny-smith/i-m-always-the-neutral-guy-man-i-m-able-to-bring-people-together/) [Kenny Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenny-smith/) > [People compose the schedules they do out of the priorities they have; and someone who says otherwise is deceiving himself about what he really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenny-smith/people-compose-the-schedules-they-do-out-of-the-priorities-they-have/) [Kenny Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenny-smith/) > [There's hasn't been a day in my life since I was 9 years old that I haven't touched a basketball or done something connected…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenny-smith/there-s-hasn-t-been-a-day-in-my-life-since-i-was-9-years-old-that-i/) [Kenny Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenny-smith/) > [You can have your own thought process about things, but you still need to include and co-exist with other people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenny-smith/you-can-have-your-own-thought-process-about-things-but-you-still-need/) [Kenny Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenny-smith/) > [NCAA is looking at how to do a better job enforcing their rules instead of looking at why the predatorial environment is created. There's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenny-smith/ncaa-is-looking-at-how-to-do-a-better-job-enforcing-their-rules/) [Kenny Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenny-smith/) [Explore all 168 Kenny Smith quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenny-smith/) ## More Benefits quotes > [If the members of parliament no longer consider themselves mandatories of the taxpayers but deputies of those receiving salaries, wages, subsidies, doles, and other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-von-mises/if-the-members-of-parliament-no-longer-consider-themselves/) [Ludwig von Mises](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-von-mises/) > [ \[The Dalai Lama\] told me some years ago, "I've made every concession to China, and I've been as open and tolerant as I could,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pico-iyer/the-dalai-lama-told-me-some-years-ago-i-ve-made-every-concession-to/) [Pico Iyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pico-iyer/) > [Anger is a rough water; if you can canalize it into a water mill, you can benefit from it. Anything bad can be transformed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/anger-is-a-rough-water-if-you-can-canalize-it-into-a-water-mill-you/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [Shortly after I turned 50, both Ted Turner and the AARP came into my life. The only difference? With AARP, there were benefits.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-fonda/shortly-after-i-turned-50-both-ted-turner-and-the-aarp-came-into-my/) [Jane Fonda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-fonda/) > [That old man dies prematurely whose memory records no benefits conferred. They only have lived long who have lived virtuously.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-brinsley-sheridan/that-old-man-dies-prematurely-whose-memory-records-no-benefits/) [Richard Brinsley Sheridan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-brinsley-sheridan/) > [Politics is about power. It is about the power of the state. It is about the power of the state as applied to individuals,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-rudd/politics-is-about-power-it-is-about-the-power-of-the-state-it-is/) [Kevin Rudd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-rudd/) > [Therefore, I see whatever exists as good, death is to me like life, sin like holiness, wisdom like foolishness, everything has to be as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/therefore-i-see-whatever-exists-as-good-death-is-to-me-like-life-sin/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) > [Trust is about keeping commitments, but in many instances, circumstances change and organizations therefore shed commitments, things such as retiree medical benefits, pension obligations,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-pfeffer/trust-is-about-keeping-commitments-but-in-many-instances/) [Jeffrey Pfeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-pfeffer/) > [Neither novels or their readers benefit from any attempts to divine whether any facts hide inside a story. Such efforts attack the very idea…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/neither-novels-or-their-readers-benefit-from-any-attempts-to-divine/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [Let us think of education as the means of developing our greatest abilities, because in each of us there is a private hope and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/let-us-think-of-education-as-the-means-of-developing-our-greatest/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [To really be of benefit to others as the Buddha always taught, we ourselves must first get out of the swamp. One of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tenzin-palmo/to-really-be-of-benefit-to-others-as-the-buddha-always-taught-we/) [Tenzin Palmo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tenzin-palmo/) > [I won the seat of Oxley largely on an issue that has resulted in me being called a racist. That issue related to my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pauline-hanson/i-won-the-seat-of-oxley-largely-on-an-issue-that-has-resulted-in-me/) [Pauline Hanson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pauline-hanson/) > [Intelligence is a separate gift, for the benefit of students, so that they may think of themselves as intellectual and not very intelligent, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/intelligence-is-a-separate-gift-for-the-benefit-of-students-so-that/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [I've always said that I benefit, as an actor, from not having the illusion of security.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-sparks/i-ve-always-said-that-i-benefit-as-an-actor-from-not-having-the/) [Hal Sparks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-sparks/) > [Benefits received are a delight to us as long as we think we can requite them; when that possibility is far exceeded, they are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tacitus/benefits-received-are-a-delight-to-us-as-long-as-we-think-we-can/) [Tacitus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tacitus/) [Browse all 3,616 Benefits quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/benefits/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Americans are cultured from their earliest years to be either one-sided douloi or one-sided banausoi, i.e. either they cannot think abstractively/conceptually/orchestrally or else they can only think abstractively. Thinking in a truly rational dialectic between intuition and intellect is just beyond the reach of our nation of emotionalist helots. What prevails among us truly has to be called not thinking but \"thinking,\" a pathetic surrogate for actual thinking for the benefit of existentially or modally crippled mentalities.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Kenny Smith" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenny-smith/americans-are-cultured-from-their-earliest-years-to-be-either-one/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Benefits" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenny-smith/americans-are-cultured-from-their-earliest-years-to-be-either-one/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c2/kenny-smith-2406_benefits_americans-are-cultured-from-their-earlie_1194663.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c2/kenny-smith-2406_benefits_americans-are-cultured-from-their-earlie_1194663.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c2/kenny-smith-2406_benefits_americans-are-cultured-from-their-earlie_1194663.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Americans are cultured from their earliest years to be either one-sided douloi or one-sided banausoi, i.e…” — Kenny Smith", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Kenny Smith", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenny-smith/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Americans are cultured from their earliest...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenny-smith/americans-are-cultured-from-their-earliest-years-to-be-either-one/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenny-smith/americans-are-cultured-from-their-earliest-years-to-be-either-one/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```