Who is Advocating for "Academic Credentialism"? (Mounting and Complexes are Two Sides of the Same Coin)

I have heard the term "academic credentialism", but it never really clicked with me.

For one thing, I pursued a path in sports, so I lived in a world completely separate from deviation scores.

Well, I managed to scrape into a "third-rate private university" from a technical high school, so I personally think that was enough.

I am from the peak of the ice age generation, so job hunting was certainly tough, and it was a disadvantage since I often couldn't even pass the document screening before the exams.

But once you get hired, "how much you can achieve" is everything, so I don't know a world where academic background is questioned after graduation.

I suppose there are academic cliques in the world, but I can't criticize a world I haven't experienced myself.

And among the Tokyo University students (including graduates) I know, not a single one bragged about their academic background.

Certainly, being able to study is "proof that you worked hard enough to produce results in one genre" as well.

But that is the same for sports or otaku hobbies, and I think it's the same in the sense that you have devoted yourself to something you like or are good at.

Come to think of it, I went to the Hongo campus guided by a then-current Tokyo University student from my part-time job, and we were goofing around saying things like, "That's this year's Miss Todai," and "Whoa, she's seriously cute."

The only time I felt a complex back then was probably regarding the variety of the cafeteria menu.

Oh, right, there was a girl at that part-time job I was really in love with, and I confessed with all my might and was soundly rejected (confessed twice and lost twice)... the punchline is that the one she liked was that Tokyo University student, but that's another story.

By the way, I was rejected not because of my academic background but because of my personality! (Huh? Sweat is coming from my eyes...)

Well, like that, I have never met an "obnoxious academic elite" like the ones that appear in manga or dramas.

Even if they did exist, perhaps our values and the worlds we live in are just too different for us to ever interact.

By the way, all the Todai students I know are naturally smart, so they understand that "life isn't easy enough to get by on academic background alone".

Now, since Todai students, who should benefit the most from academic supremacy, don't think that way (at least as far as the people I interact with are concerned)... then who on earth is advocating for this?

Just as I was thinking that, my good friend Hikarun posted an article like this.

Well, to summarize, while a streaming app was running, a "self-proclaimed high-IQ guy" barged in and started mounting over the participants one after another.

But no one paid him any mind... and the punchline was that his true identity was actually a "person with an academic complex who wanted to get into Todai but couldn't".

But the fact that he confessed "I failed to get into Todai..." and got depressed at the end makes me feel like he isn't actually that twisted of a guy.

If I had been there, I think the flow would have been, "Well, well, calm down, I'll buy you a drink, let's have one."

He seems honest at heart, so if someone listened to him properly, I think he would be able to realize that "cognitive distortion" on his own.

I suspect that he is "not satisfied with himself as he is now and feels unfulfilled".

And isn't he concluding that the cause of all that is "because I don't have an academic background"?

No, regardless of whether you have an academic background or not, "no one thinks a person who constantly mounts over others is smart".

Actually, this is similar to the topic of "lookism", where I suspect that people who advocate for appearance supremacy aren't actually that popular themselves.

They crave to be that way, but they can't quite reach it.

In other words, aren't they "people who want to be someone, but can't quite make it and have developed a complex"?

Actually, isn't the reason that person is unfulfilled not because "their eyes aren't double-lidded or a mole is in the way," but because those pent-up emotions are coming to the surface, and everyone is sensitively picking up on that?

Aren't you attributing the cause of all your dissatisfaction to 'lookism'?

Of course, appearance is a type of ability so it should be evaluated, but I don't think life is simple enough that everything goes well just because of that either.

As an aside, I often hear that the truly wealthy dress modestly, don't make wasteful purchases, and only spend money on what is necessary.

People who invest more than necessary in their appearance and possessions, like Mercedes-Benzes or Rolexes, are the ones who show them off to others.

In the first place, people who bought something because they truly wanted it don't brag about it to others, and there are many people in the world who aren't interested in those things anyway. (Like me)

Wearing top-tier items doesn't make you a top-tier person, and what one considers 'top-tier' is subjective anyway.

By the way, returning to the topic of academic background... actually, I have no interest in other people's titles.

Even here on note, I rarely read profiles; I judge whether someone is interesting based solely on their writing.

That's why I don't measure a person's intelligence by titles like 'professional writer' or their academic background. (My own standards are everything, after all)

I suppose there are times when I feel inferior when faced with someone truly amazing, but it's rare for me to let that develop into a complex.

Or rather, when I see an amazing person, I honestly respect them by saying, 'Wow, you're incredible!', so it's hard for an adversarial structure to form.

Perhaps I don't get hurt because, if someone tries to make me bow down to their title, I judge them as 'boring' the moment I see that intention and distance myself from them.

By the way, Hikaru-n seems to be a person with an amazing background, but as someone who has lived in a different world, I don't really understand how much that value is worth.

However, I like that 'honest humanity' of theirs, which is why I often go and interact with them.

So, since I'm having trouble with a final punchline, I'll conclude this story by introducing the 'Mounting Mountain' episode of MomoUme, which is famous for its YouTube short animations.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIIZ7nu6Ias