That's Stupid

Tuesday, December 7, In the year of our Lord 2010

Distance Learning Office, Briercrest College and Seminary

Short break, 1:22 PM

Weather = very cold + very white

Over the course of my education I have become increasingly irritated by the saying "that's stupid." It started in high school when my peers would say "x" is stupid, and never bother to understand how "x" works. "x" could have been George Bush, Steven Harper, Taxes, Assignments, Teachers, Homosexuality, 'Homophobia,' Religion, or anything that didn't immediately line up with their very shallow understanding of the world.

I make no apologies. Anyone who resorts to "that's stupid" as a default and never bothers to even imagine why that something is the way it is has a very shallow understanding of the world. "That's Stupid" is usually another way of saying "I don't understand this," or "I don't agree with this," and the thing itself probably isn't stupid at all. One of the things that I will call stupid without much hesitation is the love of ignorance.

Before calling something stupid people need to approach the subject from a disposition of humility. Lots of people assume that the world is run by idiots who can barely tie their own shoes. The educational system is run by morons, the health care system is run by morons, all the political leaders are morons, and this plague of moronry extends to the ends of the earth. This is of course a ridiculous assumption. To think that I (and maybe some of my friends) are the only intelligent people in the world assumes a lot of information that I do not have. It also leads to some seriously unhealthy (and inaccurate) perspectives on the world which tends to trap you inside your own head.

Instead we should assume that there are reasons for why things are the way they are. We should assume that there is a logical and traceable line of cause and effect where people made decisions based on information and motivations. I'm not looking for a purist kind of rigor against calling things stupid, just a common sense effort to understand things the way they are.

If I don't know the reasons or the why behind something I try not to say "that's stupid" I try to say "that doesn't make sense to me." If something makes me angry I try not to say "that's stupid" I try to say "that makes me upset."

Now, if I do research and uncover the why and how behind the offending idea or object and discover that there are legitimate reasons backed up by legitimate information and I still disagree with it. I don't say "that's stupid" I say "I understand why it is the way it is, but I still don't like it."

But if I do research and discover that there were lots of mistakes and logical inconsistencies with a healthy dosage of foolishness then I can say legitimately and with gusto "that's stupid, and here's why..."

So in light of my explanations, people who default to "that's stupid" for everything are themselves stupid, and when people around me defaults to "that's stupid" for too long I kinda feel like this guy.

So please refrain from just relegating things you don't understand or don't like to "that's stupid." There is a good opportunity to learn the reasons behind that thing to either change your opinion with knowledge or truly understand how and why that thing is stupid so that you can actually do something about it besides fume to yourself and with your 'that's stupid' circle of peers.