stupid people
Bertrand Russell
I'm constantly amazed by how closed minded we can be at times. My wife was in an airport this weekend where she over-heard a group of white people console themselves with the "fact" that black people voted for President Obama simply because he was black. Mitt Romney consoled himself with the fact that he only lost the election because the president bought a bunch of lazy, greedy people's votes and according to some news outlets, the massive disruptions and human tragedies caused by hurricane Sandy had absolutely nothing to do with global warming.
We all allow ourselves to be "educated with the facts" and then close our minds to the irritating little inconsistencies that impinge upon those "facts". I'm as guilty as anyone else of being influenced in a certain way and assuming the other people are just stupid.
I'm chewing on the fact that we all tend to be myopic in our world view and of our appraisal of what is right. I wonder what it was this past week that I said that someone could have overheard that sounded utterly stupid to the hearer?
In therapy I've learned that the word "stupid" is incredibly wounding and offensive. I've discovered it is better to try to see the other person's viewpoint rather than just declaring them "stupid"!
There are many people who I struggle to understand in this world and many ideas and statements that just seem disjointed when I hear them expressed. But I'm aware my own viewpoints and statements must sound as disjointed to others so I'm willing to revisit the idea that we all are made "stupid" at times by our own instructors and communities.
I'm going to offer a blanket amnesty on being stupid to everyone today. Try not to take advantage of it by overdoing the tendency to talk about what you "know" to be a "fact"
So I am declaring "free" everyone from the label of stupid.
So I'm now someone who knows no stupid people...... I wodner how long it will take me to find a new stupid person?
Do you think this is stupid? :)
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