Stupidity

I want to take a moment tonight to talk about stupidity. Like idiocy, which I tackled a little the other day, stupidity seems to be highly misunderstood in our culture.

A customer referred to herself the other day as being “stupid” about computers. Didn’t want to correct her ignorant ass, but lack of knowledge about something is IGNORANCE, not stupidity. You cannot be stupid about one thing and smart about others. If you’re stupid, you’re just stupid. Ignorance on the other hand, not only can be fixed, but is a good thing. I would argue that it might be the BEST thing. It is ignorance, after all that makes us say “Why?” It has been said that necessity is the mother of invention… I would argue that IGNORANCE is the mother of invention. It is from ignorance that all knowledge, all discoveries flow. Without ignorance, we would not have the drive to discover, to learn.

Stupidity is something different. Stupidity is the inability to learn. There are DEGREES of stupidity, but it is not reliant on topic. Some people are abysmally stupid. Like a lady I saw on the road tonight. Driving an SUV, talking on her cell phone, turning left and HONKING at the pedestrian who had the right of way because he wasn’t getting out of her way fast enough. ABYSMALLY stupid. She probably walks around wondering why her life sucks so badly. I am reminded here of something that someone (Christopher Hitchens, maybe?) said about George W. Bush… that he was born on third base and thought that he hit a triple. ABYSMALLY stupid.

Then there are the moderately stupid. Like people in industrial or rural areas who have seen their livelihoods consistently stripped from their hands by thirty years of republican corporatism but continue to vote republican because, of course, ONLY REPUBLICANS CAN GET THEM OUT OF THEIR FINANCIAL MESS. That’s moderately stupid. The moderately stupid can learn and do things amazingly well, but are easily duped. Especially if you start off by telling them exactly what they want to hear.

Then there are the slightly stupid. I count myself in this category. I would say that most people are slightly to moderately stupid. We know things. Sometimes QUITE A FEW things, but we still do things that, on slight reflection, make us go “Oh, duh!” I think that the things that separate the slightly stupid from the moderately stupid is that the moderately stupid don’t have that moment of epiphany.

Then there are those who are not at all stupid. I count Barack Obama, Terry Pratchett and Albert Einstein in this group.

So, please, folks… if you are ignorant about something DO NOT call yourself stupid. Stupid is a very, very bad thing, not something to be proud of. Although that lady who referred to herself as “stupid” about computers, like so many other people in this area, said it with a certain amount of pride in her voice.

And that’s just fucking stupid.

Peace.

Randal