I’ve been dealing, one on one and many on one, with people my whole life. Some, I always enjoy engaging; others, well, two minutes into becoming acquainted with them, and I’m yawning already.
Self-infatuation and a penchant for caring more about the surface than about the depths, along with shallow thinking are the main culprits that bring me the “yawn reflex.” Give me someone who isn’t seeking flattery and adulation, give me someone who doesn’t give a damn about what color lipstick they put on this morning…or even if they are wearing any, give me someone whose entire mental repertoire consists of more than parroting the latest ad, fad, and fatuous flatulence as fed them from the boob tube, church, government, or the gossip queens, and, maybe, just maybe, I’ll not dismiss them out of hand.
I like someone who can think for themselves. (The churches, governments and the mega-corps do not.)
I like anyone who doesn’t swallow, hook, line, and stinker, the “truths” convenient for getting along and going along with status quo.
I like anyone who knows how to substantiate their position, and who, if they discover that maybe their position might be wrong, can admit it and take another look.
I like anyone who challenges opinion and accepted circumstance.
Polly Parrot, Missy Aren’t I Pretty, and Mister Dodges Anything Which Pins Him Down is not for me.
I might argue with you, and we might disagree, but that’s how we learn and grow and explore perspectives, isn’t it? If I lend an ear, if I speak, and, if you, in turn, respond and listen, too, isn’t that the highest honor you and I can pay each other?
Yes.
Yes, but just think how much worse it would be if your dog could talk:
Feed me.
Rub my belly.
Throw my ball.
Is it time for a walk yet…huh?
Repeat!
And yet they’re still perfectly lovable.
The level of interest anyone can incite probably has more to do with style than substance, most of the time. Billy Connolly can spend ten minutes talking about a speck of dandruff, and make it hilarious, while others can make even sex sound like stove polish….so there you go!
“Some artists take the sun and turn it into a little yellow dot, while others take that same dot and turn it into the sun.” -Picasso.
Have you ever sat in a room full of ladies who do nothing but yammer on about who’s doing what with whom or whether she’s sleeping with him or “did you see what happened on ‘As the Stomach Churns’ yesterday?”
Argh.
And the next time you get trapped in similar circumstances, it’s the same conversation, but the names have changed…maybe?
Or a room full of men discussing last night’s Ram’s game or whether Moho Butter Balls had a chance of beating Willy Limp Buck?
And that’s ALL they ever talk about, though again the names change, no matter what year or what time of day it is?
They really have nothing more going on it their lives or their brains?
Amazing.
Shallow.
Doesn’t say much for human intelligence.
I can teach promotional techniques to people if they have the capacity. Unfortunately, most are simply fixated upon inconsequential minutia and haven’t a clue that something might be a bit more important than whether they broke a nail, have a split end, or are going to get laid by that hot-looking wench with a 4DD rack.
In ancient times people believed that if they journeyed far enough in any direction, that they would eventually fall off the edge of the earth.
And its remarkable how many still feel that way about the edge of their lawn! Or the periphery of their adolescent ego.
At least youre living up to your own billing as an “equalist” Dawn…as in equal contempt for everybody!
Actually, its not really everyone, just the south side of a bell curve.
From the north side, the south looks like a shallow pool of stupidity, apathy, banality…a microcosm of the mundane.
And from the south side, the north looks like snobbery and elitism.
You know, okay. I deserve that…maybe. Except, I’ve never met a real person I didn’t like and find value in. Notice the word real.
Except…I can sit with Old Aunt Janie, who can’t add 3 and 7 except on her fingers, can’t read, and needs someone to help her not get cheated at the store with “this new money.” But she sure can talk about some amazing concepts, has common sense, can spin a yarn that makes your hair stand up while she spits chaw tobacci into a spitoon. She can lead you a path through the wilderness in the dark without losing her way. She can tell at a sniff if water is nearby and if rain is coming.
She NEVER is boring. She never says the same thing twice. And she’s always full of question…especially about things like laptops and cell phones….
No, she doesn’t watch TV. No she doesn’t care about fashion. No, she doesn’t give a rat’s behinder about whether her grandchild won his football game. What she cares about is whether her grandchild is courteous, doesn’t lie, cheat, steal. Knows not to cavort with “baddies.” And, when one of them “went south,” she disinherited him…and, yes, she’s got money — from “believin’ in somewhat who came a knockin’ on t’door cuz he wuz gonna build talkin’ machines. I gave him money, never thinkin’ I’d get it back, but he had good eyes.”
She’s a canny woman who can read someone’s intent in their eyes.
She’s a real person. She’s got heart and depth and soul.
I know some other codgers who, while they aren’t the smartest things to come down the pike, know and speak with common sense, have depth of character, and can argue the daylights out when they have a point to make about politics, policies, church governance, and community doings. They are actively involved in Veterans affairs, putting in the time and effort to help “them youngsters back from that sand war who don’t know enough to wipe their asses…never been taught spit.” <-- direct quote. Something is missing in America today. I don't see this as much in Europeans...or else I'm not meeting the wrong ones, but Americans, male and female, seem totally bereft of "the stuff that makes a person." It isn't the IQ or KQ that matters. It's the realness, the awareness, the canny. It's heart and soul and spirit along with thinking for themselves, knowing what's important and what matters, and caring enough to make the effort.
And let’s get back to this bell curve of intelligence. Most people I know have limited abilities in one area or another, doing well in some, but knowing their limitations in the others. A logger or a welder knows his work, he and she holds their skills, skills I respect and can admire. They care, they are aware, they think about consequences, they are not close-minded, they question, they think for themselves when they vote, they give a damn.
No. I’m not talking intellegence as measured by the ivory tower, but rather intelligence, heart, depth, and love. What I object to is the shallowness I see, and this unseemly focus on everything that doesn’t matter.
So now I challenge you to tell me why you think I’m an elitist snob who looks down her nose at people who aren’t in the upper 10 percentile in intelligence?
It isn’t that at all. In fact I know people IN the upper 10 percentile who are to be utterly disdained because all they care about are themselves and making it further up their social ladder while their kids, their parents, and their friends, when they need them to be there, have to call me and mine for help instead.
Well I certainly dont believe in any monolithic theories of the human psyche. Intelligence is just a section of the pie chart, and even then, there are several different kinds of intelligence. So there isnt just one kind of graph in the mix.
We can even look to good examples by comparing humans and animals. An animal of any given species tends to have one kind of disposition towards its group and other species, meaning they all tend to behave in a similar and predictable manner.
Not so with humans. Humans have the potential to place far below most animals in terms of their ethical disposition, and also far above.
A guy by the name Dr. David Hawkins has done a lot of work in this area, and has even worked out a kind of numerical spectrum to describe where every species fits into the big picture.
I think you’d enjoy his talks on the subject.
Just scroll down to the streaming audio files:
http://beyondtheordinary.net/drhawkins.shtml