Grading System Exposed Assignment

In Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Robert Pirsig wrote the following: "The brighter, more serious students were the least desirous of grades, possibly because they were more interested in the subject matter of the course, whereas the dull or lazy students were the most desirous of grades, possibly because grades told them if they were getting by."

The question is whether this is true, or whether the brighter students are more desirous of grades and the dull students are less so.  I think there is a bit of both, and it definitely can't be cut into two groups and expect one to be true of every person.  Bright students are more likely to pay attention in class, and thus will learn more, and even if they don't agree with the teacher, can pull off a good grade.  Dull students, on the other hand, do just enough, or not even that, and grades aren't their goal, or else they would try harder.

However, a bright student who simply wants to learn a subject would care less about grades, and students that care mostly about their grades are more likely to regurgitate bland facts and overused concepts.

I suppose making a distinction works better one way than the other.  Students that care about their grades are more likely to be dull or lazy, doing one of my favorite end-of-the-year activities: Figure out how many points you need on the last couple of assignments in order to get the grade you want!  This system seems more sure-fire than looking at all the bright students and assuming they don't care about their grades, or looking at dull ones, and assuming they do.  Perhaps this is because grades have told me I'm a bright student, and I would like to keep that reputation while still defending good grades.  But I've met plenty of dull students who definitely don't care about their grades, and plenty of brilliant students who want (and receive) good grades.

Despite all of this, I think that the grading system ought to be kept, but its importance should not be as stressed as it currently is.  Today, anywhere in the academic community (and some other places), bad grades stick to you like a piece of gum on your shoe; with each step you take, you are reminded of past failures, and it can slow you down a bit.  Grades are quite useful, for comparing and displaying progress, but a person ought to be able to shed them off after a month or so.