A passion-filled society

Have you ever noticed how dumb most people are?

Certainly you have.

All you need to do is take a ride on a crowded campus bus and watch how slow the pack is to make room for those getting on, even while the bus driver keeps asking everyone to move back.

I am sure you can think of many other examples of people’s mindless behavior.

It is astonishing how few people seem to use their brains on a daily basis.

But, rest assured, you are not one of these people. Instead, you are one of the people, like me, who is wise enough to recognize such dim-wittedness, without engaging in it.

But that doesn’t make much sense, because if by “you,” I am talking to everyone who is reading this column, which I am, then who is left to make up the group of dumb people?

Do I think that only some special group of wise people read my column?

No.

What I think is not that there is only a handful of intelligent people in the world, but rather that, occasionally, everyone chooses to be observant and notice how ridiculous people can be in their routine interactions with the world.

We all have done something at one time or another that has made someone else think, “People are so dumb!”

But we are not all dumb. We simply don’t use all of our reasoning and focus with each daily action as will a few people who are in a hurry at any given time. That alone doesn’t make us dull-minded.

It all comes down to perspective.

On a similar note, we often criticize others for not being concerned with the specific things that each of us is so passionate about. It can be annoying to see how “shallow” people are when they are only interested in pop culture issues or all wear the same fad-ridden clothing.

But there are just far too many things in the world to care about for everyone to each have a slice of every pie. Consequently, some people are exceptionally well-educated in particular interests and entirely ignorant of others.

We each have our own passions that set us apart. However, since these specific passions are not common to all, we are not always able to connect deeply to each person.

Instead, we tend to default to rather simple opinions regarding the ideas outside of our focus. In this way, the popular things in our society, like network TV or Facebook, give us common ground for conversation.

I like to think we are all like soap bubbles floating in a pool of water. We frequently slide into each other but only make a small amount of surface contact without ever sharing the volume within. While we know of our own depth, we only get to experience the superficial surface of others.

However, with a positive attitude and a watchful eye, we can catch glimpses of the depth in each person. It is these depths that set us apart.

And ultimately, we have a lot to gain from the passions and perspectives of each other if we don’t simply write everyone off as inherently shallow and/or dim-witted based on our routine encounters.


E-mail: tylatkin@indiana.edu