I don't know how many times I wished I could sit down and enjoy an episode of the Kardashians or Jersey Shore without a neurochemical Chernobyl wiping out my brain cells. I have also wished at times that my brain doesn't link sexiness with smartness, especially when you're part of the generation of Jackass, fake Italians and witch hunts on social media.
I never asked for how I feel disgust for the companies like Goldman Sachs, Gawker, or Walmart either. While our obsession with fat checks and our Gordon Gekko is here to stay, for those of us who keep up with how these corporations are bringing our species one step closer to Armageddon, the wishful thinking and propaganda pumped by their PR machines still makes them sexy, hip, or attractive. I wish that I don't have think of the conflict minerals or the poverty that the big time companies propagate every time people are setting their tents up to line up for the new iphone. Being smart sucks.
I can think of a few other reasons why being smart can suck, but in the end, it comes down to the fact that intelligence is like an unwanted Christmas present from your Dad. You never asked for it, but you still have to deal with all the consequences that come with it.
You didn't ask for how your brain is wired or what satisfies your intellectual curiosity. You never had a say on how many or what kind of books were on your parents bookshelf. Consequentially, you never had a say on the anxiety you get from the bloodshed, dogmatism and stupidity simultaneously happening on a local and global scale. And when the people around you are obsessed with TMZ, Benedict Cumberbatch or their fantasy football teams, you can't help but think how the grass of ignorance looks greener compared to where you stand.
Being smart is merely a skill, like making bubbles out of your spit, nailing a Christopher Walken impression, or fitting your body into a suitcase. Among such herculean tasks however smartness is perhaps the hardest skill to handle, since its about diving into your mind and your thoughts. And we all more or less know how unpleasant our own thoughts can be.
Its a skill that doesn't automatically make you respectable or immune to cults or conspiracy theories. In fact, it definitely makes you more susceptible to become an asshole, and by the time you notice that fact it can be too late for your social life. It gives you no claim to any moral high-ground, yet it inevitably shapes your personality and your world view. Add evil with smart and you get people like Henry Kissinger or Carl Rove, shaping history to their preference at whatever (or whoever's) cost. It is perhaps the hardest skill to handle, and your chance of drawing it out of the genetic lottery is simply out of your control.
Being smart is just a trait, but that trait itself can be something to be hated for. I assume that this is because for most people, talking with a smart person probably sounds like this. (Especially the part from 4:45 - 5:15)
Project Gorilla aside, I mean no disrespect when I say I agree with Sheldon on the topic of stupidity. It's no reason to cry. Really, its not. For anyone smart and compassionate enough to give some thought on the wider world however, other people's stupidity is plenty of reason to cry. It makes people vote against their own interests, it can make you participate in acts of systematic violence without you even knowing it, or it can make you send your loved ones to war with a smile on your face.
The kindest people can be caught up in fevers of war and hysteria, and keeping you common sense in tact can become the hardest act of courage. And not everyone with a strain of skepticism can muster the courage to stand up against the tide, but at the same time you can't unknow what you already know.
If you want to get a better idea of how smart people have it hard, look no further than Barack Obama. He brought his country out of a recession, brought down the unemployment rate and made the stock market rain. You know, some serious tyrant business; possibly imported from Kenya. (i.e. Hawaii) Or ask Michelle. She can't even tell kids to drink more water and exercise without being an enemy of freedom. Because free hydration for all? That's socialism!
While its becoming harder and harder to be a advocate for common sense, the climate deniers and the mini-Reagans are rolling in lobbyist money. With the influx of money, materials and political correctness, its hard to hang on to common sense. Being ignorant is easy, stress free, and financially rewarding on many occasions. No one has a say on what they think or what they see, but the weight of the world always seems to fall down to those who were born with this particular set of mental skills.
Being smart can be lethal, especially for yourself. Throughout history being smart was plenty of reason to die or threatened to be killed. From Socrates to Galileo, Darwin and all the way up to Salman Rushdie and Malala. Fredrick Niche went crazy - I mean running around town naked type of crazy - in the end of his life and possibly died a virgin. Isaac Newton locked himself up in his room in the summer with the furnace on full blast for the sake of alchemy, and he was well known for his horrible personality.
Even in the realm of creative talent, people like Heath Ledger, Phillip Seymour Hoffman or Robin Williams suffered for their genius. I don't think that they regretted the career choices that they made, but without a doubt they were a few steps closer to the abyss compared to the rest of us or even the rest of the actors. Their talent and their suffering came as a package, making them a ticking time bomb of brilliance without them ever having a say on how their brain functions.
Being smart sucks because you never asked for it. While ignorance is also something that you never asked for either, chance is that it'll make you happier to believe in things like God, country or your entitlement to fame. For those of us who think of things like God and country as mere words, how everyone else is attached to these fluid words drives us crazy. And it's no ones fault that people think how they think, but the weight of the world and the weight of your own thoughts always cripples those on the smarter end of the spectrum. These are my honest thoughts, but these thoughts alone are more than enough for me to be labeled as an asshole at best. It is perhaps harder than ever to have an honest conversation on big issues, and under such circumstances, boy does it suck to be smart.
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