Elitism

"Throughout my life, I have had a strong conscious and unconscious addiction to knowledge. Suppressing knowledge seems to me wrong and impractical. Obviously, knowledge can be used and misused. But, prevention of misuse, I firmly believe, must be kept separate from limitations on knowledge. Those believe that we are not yet ready for some knowledge consider themselves members of a world aristocracy that is ahead of everyone else in its value judgements. Some of the horrible events of the twentieth century may appear to justify their opinion. Nonetheless, I cannot help opposing aristocracy and elitism, whether they be an elite of nobility, race, money, morals, or even knowledge itself."

The quote above is from Edward Teller's Memoirs. 

Like him, I oppose any kind of "elitism." Today, I was thinking of people who consider themselves as smarter than other people based upon their education. Some people think a degree (especially an advanced degree) is a sign of intellectual capability. In fact, an advanced degree is just a degree that is earned mostly by hard work and sometimes even patience. A few exceptional people aside, most people just become highly professionalized in a certain field with an advanced degree. It does not show that are any smarter than a person without a degree.