People often say that being book smart is more important than being street smart. And, to be successful, you need to be book smart, forgetting that the world is fast-evolving, and books alone cannot get you everything sometimes.
They say that street smarts are more likely to end up in trouble, but what they don't realize is that being book smart without an inkling of being street smart can be terrible sometimes.
For me, I like to believe that they both complement each other. If there’s anything living in Lagos, Nigeria has taught me, it is how to be a little bit of both. Trust me, this is a completely different story for another day.
Based on my own opinion(I stand corrected);
Book smart- an intelligent person who is educated academically. One with JUST ‘word experience’ or ‘book knowledge’. A total bookworm who basically deals with every situation(good or bad)from an intellectual perspective or knowledge mainly from books.
Street smart- a person with ‘world experience’ or one who has dealt with real-life situations, or had it tough. One who knows the way of the world, and deals with situations from a more practical angle because he knows how the street works.
Before I go any further, what are your thoughts? Is it true that book smarts kick book smarts in the a$$, or is it the opposite?
To be street smart, you must be aware of your surroundings. You may evaluate the environment you're in, who's in it, and what viewpoints are open to you.
This whole write-up reminds me of when my phones were stolen on two different occasions, same scenarios. I was standing at the bus stop waiting to get a bus to my destination, and my phone disappeared from my bag like magic.
Mind you, it was the same method in two different locations. The first was a Samsung phone barely 3 months old, and the second was also a brand new Samsung phone I had bought to replace the first- now, the second phone was about 3 weeks old.
Source
Don’t even ask me if I cried about it, I’ll tell you. I wailed. This is an entirely different story for another day. Plus, this is just one out of the several occasions I was outsmarted right here in Lasgidi(Lagos).
It was there and then I knew that I had to up my street game. Lagos will literally teach you to SHINE YA EYE.
Truth is, being a bit of both would always be of immense value everywhere in life whether you are in the streets, the trenches, or in a good place.
I think of it this way; books won't get you anywhere in the streets, and being street smart in an academic or intellectual space will make you appear dumb.
Having a discussion with a friend over this same topic, my friend had said something that I didn’t entirely agree with. I cannot exactly quote him verbatim, but he was of the opinion that book smart people can be ruthless, dangerous, or even outsmart the street smarts if given time.
He went on to cite the scientists or engineers who developed nuclear weapons, robots, drones and general breakthroughs in tech, and all that.
While it is okay to want to give all the credit to the book smart people, what happens to the street smart people, the actual masterminds?
I’ll say this a million times over, they both work hand in hand to complement each other. I do not think it should be a thing of competition or comparison, rather, there should be a balance.
As someone who is quite book smart, I can tell you from personal experience that it is the knowledge I have of both that has helped me so far in life.
Why be one, when there's no harm in being both? Plus, books only give you theoretical details, the streets, on the other hand, teach you real life.
Lastly, he went on to say that, not everyone is built to be a little bit of both—and I agree. The question is, which one are you?
