The author contends that the society does not stress adequate emphases on the intellect. In my perspective, the intellect is important, but it does not mean the whole thing to the individual and the society. Moreover, I think that the society today has put enough emphisis on the intellect including reasoning and other cognitive skills.
To begin with, intellect dos not only consist of the reasoning and other cognitive skills. What's more, it also includes the ability to extract the abstracting concept from complex things or siatuations, as well as the logic analysis ability, the learning ability. In a word, intellect covers the whole range of what we think in the world.
In the second place, we human beings can not advance without intellect, which is of great significance to the prospect of every indivudual and the future of the whole human nature.On one hand, intellect provides individual with the access to the success. For most of the scientists, hardworking and perseverence are important, but the intellect of themselves is even more important to some creative work. How can C.F.Gauss get the sponsorship from his teacher and Braunschiweig to study and live and then made so many achivements if he didn't show his great intellect when he was young? Life also abounds with the examples of the certain success of so many bussiness leaders. Most of them actually grew up with great cognitive skills and intellect. On the other hand, the advancement of human nature can also not leave out the help of intellect. In the economy field, we human extracted a myriad of abstracting economic theories from our actual life and then use them to reform the economic system and improve the nation wealth. Also in our daily life, intellect also help us to simplify something complexity, enhancing our efficiency and saving our time.
Thirdly, opposed to what the author said, our society has actually put enough emphisis on the intellect. Most sectors, where intellect are badly needed, have better access to more social resources than other sectors. For example, the scientific research, which require great intellect, receives a considerable amount of fund from the government and the enterprises, which can never be experienced by the catering trade. Also, the artists, who acquired abstracting thinking and intellect for their working, are well-admired and respected by the society, as well as the freedom to creat the work, while those who just replicate and make pirates of the art work are held in contempt. When it comes to the incomes, the practitioners in the intellect-needed sector are usually higher than that of others. For instance, the lawyer, who should gain the intellect of logical,citical thinking and other highly intellected skills received much higher salaries than whom is from common sectors.It is the same case with the professors in the university in America. They hold high social status and gain more income than other common teachers in the US.
However, I reckon that our society has put too much attention on the intellcet, leaving out other important qualities and capalibities. In the growth of a balanced developed person, he or she should develop not only intellect skills, but also many other psychological characteristics and social abilities. In the first place, an individual who will contribute to the society should be in the right way, which means, he or she would have the correct value and morality. If someone use his or she intellect in the wrong way, he would exert negative influence on the soceity. Take the hackers for example. They acquired highly intellected brain but utilize them in the wrong way, causing great damage and loss to other people and the society. Then a person who wants to achieve the life goal should possess many other personalities, such as the perseverence, the firm conviction and the optimistic. What's more, the social abilities like the communicating skills and the coorperative consciousness are vital to one's success.
As what has been discussed above, I belive that the intellect is one of the most favorable factors to the good of the world and the people in the world. But we can not leave out other important factors for us to develop balanced people and balanced world.