There have been birds falling out of the sky this week. First in Arkansas, USA, then in Mississippi, USA, now I hear it’s happened in Finland.
Of course we can draw the conclusion that the end of the world is upon us. Then again, it’s most likely to be fireworks. Or maybe pollution. It could be a virus. It could be God. It could be aliens.
So, this quote gets to the heart of a certain type of stupidity. It’s not the process of finding answers that makes people stupid. It’s the DESIRE for conclusions without being willing to do the intelligent work to find a logical, reasonable and likely answer. As a result we take the easiest road. We take the road of superstition, whether religious or secular. We take the road that the bandwagon is on. We take the obvious road. AND THAT IS STUPID AND DANGEROUS.
The other aspect of stupidity that is shown in this quote is so many people’s inability to just allow that we may not know the answer. It doesn’t mean we should work towards finding answers and solutions, but if one’s inability to live with unknowing causes them to reach stupid conclusions then they are being, well, stupid.
“By dint of railing against idiots you run the risk of becoming idiotic yourself.” – Gustave Flaubert
Notice it says ‘runs the risk’. Railing against something doesn’t always make you idiotic, but for it not to, you must keep your cool. Not for every single moment, but for the overall picture.
I remember my unwife use to get perturbed at me for ‘railing’ at times. She would say ‘but what does your anger accomplish?’. I would say in response ‘I am not trying to accomplish anything, I am simply expressing my feelings about something’. But I think she had a valid point in some ways. It is ok to simply express your feelings of anger or frustration at stupidity and idiocy. But it is also good to train yourself to have a larger reason for your expression.
Maybe you plan it, like when your child has continually not obeyed you and you know that it is now time for ‘the fear of god’ to be put into them. So, you let that ‘fear of god’ out. Not in violence and not in mean, hurtful ways. But you express your anger with the knowledge that you have a particular outcome you are hoping for. It is sometimes called ‘righteous indignation’ and it can stop people in their tracks.
The key is to stop and think, evaluate, be willing to think it through with this thought, ‘If I COULD affect something postively with my anger, what would it look like?’
