Yes, I Am Stupid. And I Love It.
Let’s strike a deal. You can say all you want. I will just ignore you. Deal?
We have to undo the hurt inflicted by the feedback that is uncalled for. There are many types of unsolicited feedback uttered by those with an element of unfounded superiority. Sorry to say that.
Then again, who gave you (not you per se) the right to call someone else stupid?
- Yup, Governments around the World are inept and stupid because they cannot control the pandemic. Do you want to give it a go?
- Yup, students around the World are unintelligible and stupid because they cannot understand the intricacies of current-day Economics and Finance. Do you understand the valuation techniques of Discounted Cashflow?
- Yup, all publication editors in the Medium platform are close-minded and stupid because they rejected your beautiful manuscript written to prove that we can skip the Universal Rules of Grammar in our writings. Are you an editor to begin with?
I know, I know. I am stupid.
Then again, this question has to be asked. Is anyone any smarter?
I doubt.
We take our IQ scores and academic lineage too seriously. A high IQ score, coupled with a graduation transcript peppered with a boring string of As unknowingly sends that person to a social pedestal.
A sudden surge of self-confidence arises, and this person starts to wield the sword of criticism.
I recalled reading that the Victorious get to write the official history books. It seems so.
If we want to critique without the pedigree of high IQ scores or string of As, we need something else. That something else is Age. If we are 30 years ahead compared to that unfortunate soul we are talking to (err … I mean, with) … our shadows become longer.
Cannot understand? We can look at our Dad. You get the idea.
I am uncertain if you are sick and tired of receiving unsolicited feedback, especially those slapped with the nomenclature of “stupidity” rather frequently.
I have good news for you. This is how we can deal with it.
Remember the old saying that it takes two hands to clap? Yup, I have one modification. It takes one hand to slap.
So, walk away.
When we walk away, the slapping hand cannot reach us.
It is time we become confident of ourselves and our contributions. Sure, feedback is important because it helps us tackle our blind spots.
However, when they make us feel less confident of ourselves — Always question the utility of that feedback and whether it is worthy of the emotional volatility it delivers.
I have met enough people to know that everyone thinks they are intelligent (meaning others are comparatively unintelligible). Let them be.
We can walk away.
We can always focus on ourselves.
Yes, I am stupid. I love it.
So?
It is time we change the way we think and how we carry ourselves. We are not necessarily any smarter than anyone else.
That said, we can always learn from the people we encounter.
When we think that others are stupid — We stop learning.
When we believe that there is someone out there worthy to learn from — We open our minds.
All it takes is to change our mindset and the World around us changes.
We Have To Learn To Love Ourselves!
Aldric
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About the Author:
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Because simplicity adds value.
And with clarity — We grow.
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