You're wrong
Guess what? You're not as smart as you think you are. Seriously, I know this is hard to grasp, but you are not the comfortable, creamy center of your universe and you sure as hell don't have all the answers. Me? I got shit, so don't think I'm any better off.
That's the thing of it, y'know? We all think we know what we're doing to some capacity, especially when confronted about our decisions. In fact, that confrontation just hammers it home that you're right and they're wrong, because, dammit, they just don't have all of the facts that you did when you formed the opinion or made the decision.
I'm speaking to no one specific here, so no one out there get any ideas. What I'm getting at is that I've noticed when we let our guards down, listen to these people around us and start nodding in understanding, then maybe we can start making some decisions that don't make everyone nervous. Whether they be about college, grad school, women, men, jobs, whatnot, it's important to not mistake confidence in your convictions and your decisions for befuddled arrogance masking fear. We're all fallible and WHEN things don't go the way you planned (there is really no "if" in these realms, people, and that doesn't mean that it'll end badly), you're ready to adapt and shift into the next gear smoothly.
I know, off the top of my head, three very, very smart people. They're probably geniuses in their own right, but each of them has their moments when their confidence wavers. Rarely does it have to do with the fields that MAKE them geniuses, but when it deals with the situations that make them HUMAN, then they are just as stupid or smart as the rest of us.
Remember, just because you can recite facts or solve math problems or speak three languages does not make you smarter than anyone. In the end, you'll be heartbroken over a break-up or you'll miss the love of a parent when they dismiss you or you'll feel the pangs of failure when you don't get a job you got for. The "simple" people should keep that in mind, if they don't already.
I always think of the Fonz from Happy Days when I think of someone who has trouble admitting they're wrong. If you're unfamiliar with this reference, the Fonz was THE coolest cat in town and was always the smartest guy in the room about everything important (i.e. chicks). When those rare occasions occurred when the Fonz had made an error, he would be incapable of expressing his mistake in words. "I was wrrrrr... Wrroo... I was mistaken, Ritchie, alright?"
Well, keep that in mind. This isn't meant to humble the people who think they're smart. This is meant to remind the people who THINK they aren't that we're all the same when it comes to the important things.
posted by AmeroKafka @ 2:52 AM
2 Comments:
Well, most people I meet have no idea what they're doing and readily admit it. Maybe you meet a lot more people. But most people around our age, I think, realize they don't know their direction or anything like that... but it is best to try to go forth with confidence.
If it's meant to remind the people who think they're not smart, why did you start off by saying you're not as smart as you think you are? I think it's really both. ;) You can't write something like that and NOT be meaning to humble people, at least on some level.
You could, of course, try always being right. Like me. :)
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