There is no adequate defense, except stupidity, against the impact of a new idea.
Percy Bridgeman
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Hello Ally
********************
I suppose one could say there is a good reason for stupidity. There are a variety of things that could cause it, and maybe in some cases it's curable. I personally believe one should be compassionate with the stupid.
But there is definitely a reason for ignorance. Ignorance is simply not knowing. We are all ignorant of most things. That doesn't make us bad. If we need to know something which we don't know, we are ignorant. And the cure for that ignorance is to find out what we need to know.
Holding on to ignorance, refusing to find out, or being afraid of finding out, or, even, preferring to remain ignorant for social, political or religious reasons, is curable stupidity. Holding on to ignorance. Tenaciously protecting it. That makes us bad.
Clarence Darrow once wrote "I do not pretend to know what a lot of ignorant men are sure of." The first step out of ignorance is to admit it. That is sometimes difficult because there are so many things we think we know, things that have been told to us by those who think they know. Or else we make assumptions on our own. I knew a preacher once who used to say "To assume makes an ass of u and me."
Sometimes our ignorance is kept alive by the legerdemain of advertisers and politicians. A magician succeeds in fooling you into thinking you know where the card is even though he has palmed it into a different pocket by taking your focus off the card.
Politicians can avoid talking about volatile issues by focusing your attention elsewhere on the superficial and general ones. They either say what we need is a change or, as in today's magic show, we need to restore.
How ,amy times has a drug company taken something as harmless as, say, a stiff neck, which can be the result of stress, tension or a bad attitude, all of which are traceable to a mental state, given it a fancy Greco/Roman title, invented a drug with a veiled medical type name to heal it and then entertained you with TV commercials to sell it.
And we are bombarded with news about the misbehavior of famous people. Two stars are spotted together on a beach in Barbados and Wham! a scandal is brewing, "bubble, bubble."
TV is a very successful way to sell cars. It must be or there wouldn't be so many of them. We see them spinning along remote highways or cruising through impossibly empty city streets. But when was the last time you saw one of those fancy cars making its way through rush hour traffic?
It takes a great effort to ignore these magic shows, but it says even more for one's intelligence to say "Wait a minute," find out the facts and blow the ignorance away. Without doing that you can't decide whether a new idea is really a new one or just a newer version of the same old snake oil.
DB - Vagabond Journeys
I will keep harping on Guest Authors until I get some more and I will
Never Give Up
***************************
Look here. I have 10 Guest Author entries since I started offering this invitation. Now I want yours. If you haven't posted one here yet, please do so.
This is an invitation for anyone and everyone to post an entry of their own on my journal, Vagabond Journeys http://vagabondjourneys.blogspot.com/.
The end of the year holidays are upon us and since it is a time for celebrations, remembrances, resolutions and plans for the future I know that people have things to say.
Not to take away from the postings on your own journals, but to add to the joy of my own celebrations is why I invite you to write for mine.
I want to read what your thoughts are about this magical time of the year. This invitation is open to everyone: Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Pagans, Agnostics, Atheists and the Uncertain.
Tell me your thoughts on Chanukah, Christmas, Ashura, Kwanzaa, the Winter Solstice, New Years Eve. or any subject you wish or associate with this holiday season.
There are no limits in regard to length. The only limitation is that, for reasons so far unexplained to me, my blog does not take photographs, animations, videos or pictures of any kind. I deal in words.
Please accept my invitation. Send your entry to my email address dbdacoba@aol.com I will copy and paste it into my journal and it will be displayed promptly. You may sign your name or not as you wish, and you may leave a link to your blog or your email or not, as you wish. I will do NO editing or censoring. Eloquence is not necessary, mind or heart or both is all.
I have 10 Guest Authors so far. Check them out. Can I hear from Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America? All are welcome. Admission is free.
DB
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Showing posts with label stupidity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label stupidity. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Getting It Right
The two most common elements in the universe are Hydrogen and stupidity.
Harlan Ellison
**********************
If anyone who is not in show business, and some that are, really understood what a good actor does, they would be super impressed by the artistry of the great ones. As an actor I will go to the theatre or a film and watch actors working. That gives me a different point of view about the piece than most people have, maybe even a broader point of view. I can enjoy both the play and the players.
There are some great actors, some very good ones and some very bad ones whose careers seem endless. Sloppy work in any enterprise is bad and should not be allowed. I used to be one of those sloppy actors, I'm ashamed to say. But one day, early in my career, that changed for good.
I was playing Casio in Shakespeare's "Othello" at a theatre in New England. Casio has a speech to Desdamona asking for her help. Late in the rehearsal period, when we all knew our lines, the stage manager, who was a very benign, quiet and polite fellow, came to me with a sheet of paper. He said "I think you should know the difference between the way you are speaking this speech and the way Shakespeare wrote it." I took the paper and thanked him. Back home I looked it over and was stunned to see how much I had turned Shakespeare's golden verbiage into pedestrian muck. I immediately rememorized the speech and went through the rest of the role making sure I had the words right.
That was a greet lesson and blessing for me. From that day on I was always conscientious about getting the lines the way the author wrote them. I wish I could say the same for others.
Years later I was stage manager for a production of "Godspell." You may remember it, a musical loosely based on the Bible. I frankly wondered how some of the people in this production got cast. The actor playing the John the Baptist character was a phoney. But the one playing Jesus was worse. He was a poster boy for self-importance. He played everything facing the audience so they could see how good looking he was, he spoke over his shoulder to any character that was speaking to him and he had little respect for the script.
That character has a famous quote from the Bible about overcoming temptation, "The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak." You've probably heard that quote often. Well, he persisted in gestating it wrong no matter how many times I corrected him. He was offended at being corrected by me and didn't think it was important. Only he was important.
And so for many performances he went on stage and said "The flesh is willing but the spirit is weak." He made it sound as if that messiah needed some viagra.
There is no reason or excuse in our lives for that kind of stupidity. Can you imagine an actor playing Hamlet who says "Not to be or to be, that's the dilemma"? Hisses would resound.
Do I wonder what ever happened to that actor? I don't. I don't wish him any harm, but he is not important. People like that take up time, space and roles that other actors could play better.
I hark back to an old saying "If it's worth doing, it's worth doing well." We can't do everything there is to do, but whatever we have to do we should do correctly. If nothing else it allows us to have a good night's sleep.
DB - The Vagabond
***********************
SUMMER QUESTION
(This is not a contest.)
Who are the 2 (two) most important people alive today? Why?
Only 7 responses so far. Summer is about to close her gates. Get with it. Don't be left out in the heat.
dbdacoba@aol.com
Thank you.
DB
********************
Harlan Ellison
**********************
If anyone who is not in show business, and some that are, really understood what a good actor does, they would be super impressed by the artistry of the great ones. As an actor I will go to the theatre or a film and watch actors working. That gives me a different point of view about the piece than most people have, maybe even a broader point of view. I can enjoy both the play and the players.
There are some great actors, some very good ones and some very bad ones whose careers seem endless. Sloppy work in any enterprise is bad and should not be allowed. I used to be one of those sloppy actors, I'm ashamed to say. But one day, early in my career, that changed for good.
I was playing Casio in Shakespeare's "Othello" at a theatre in New England. Casio has a speech to Desdamona asking for her help. Late in the rehearsal period, when we all knew our lines, the stage manager, who was a very benign, quiet and polite fellow, came to me with a sheet of paper. He said "I think you should know the difference between the way you are speaking this speech and the way Shakespeare wrote it." I took the paper and thanked him. Back home I looked it over and was stunned to see how much I had turned Shakespeare's golden verbiage into pedestrian muck. I immediately rememorized the speech and went through the rest of the role making sure I had the words right.
That was a greet lesson and blessing for me. From that day on I was always conscientious about getting the lines the way the author wrote them. I wish I could say the same for others.
Years later I was stage manager for a production of "Godspell." You may remember it, a musical loosely based on the Bible. I frankly wondered how some of the people in this production got cast. The actor playing the John the Baptist character was a phoney. But the one playing Jesus was worse. He was a poster boy for self-importance. He played everything facing the audience so they could see how good looking he was, he spoke over his shoulder to any character that was speaking to him and he had little respect for the script.
That character has a famous quote from the Bible about overcoming temptation, "The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak." You've probably heard that quote often. Well, he persisted in gestating it wrong no matter how many times I corrected him. He was offended at being corrected by me and didn't think it was important. Only he was important.
And so for many performances he went on stage and said "The flesh is willing but the spirit is weak." He made it sound as if that messiah needed some viagra.
There is no reason or excuse in our lives for that kind of stupidity. Can you imagine an actor playing Hamlet who says "Not to be or to be, that's the dilemma"? Hisses would resound.
Do I wonder what ever happened to that actor? I don't. I don't wish him any harm, but he is not important. People like that take up time, space and roles that other actors could play better.
I hark back to an old saying "If it's worth doing, it's worth doing well." We can't do everything there is to do, but whatever we have to do we should do correctly. If nothing else it allows us to have a good night's sleep.
DB - The Vagabond
***********************
SUMMER QUESTION
(This is not a contest.)
Who are the 2 (two) most important people alive today? Why?
Only 7 responses so far. Summer is about to close her gates. Get with it. Don't be left out in the heat.
dbdacoba@aol.com
Thank you.
DB
********************
Monday, May 18, 2009
Quality Quest 5/18/09
The man who really knows is the man who is always willing to learn.
DB - The Vagabond
***************
Hello, whoever you are.
----------------
No man is more certain of his knowledge and wisdom than an ignorant man. I've known many. In fact, I used to be one myself. No, don't laugh. I was. I was a first rate, award winning, loud mouth dope. Thank goodness those days are over (now you can laugh). Now, of course, I know everything. At least I thought I did until I read a few items in today's paper.
There's a big difference between ignorance and stupidity, Ignorance is a condition that's curable, like youth. Stupidity is forever. I think ignorance comes about because people are afraid of change and challenge, or else they are too old and tired to face them and just want to dig their heels into the ground they know about. What a shame.
A friend's daughter, a school girl, was keeping a journal. She entitled it "Things I learned today." I thought it was a good idea, so I started to keep one of my own. But I divided the entries up into three columns: things I learned today, things I knew but forgot about, and, things I already know. I finally had to give it up because the columns were getting filled up quickly. But it did develop one valuable habit, the habit of seeking out new information, noticing it when it came upon me and comparing it with what I already knew or thought I knew about the topic.
Intellectual curiosity is an exercise that doesn't wear one out much, doesn't require a lot of equipment and isn't likely to cause any bodily harm. Why do people shun it as if it was going to send them up river to the funny farm. "All that reading of books isn't good for the mind."
Some of the women bloggers that I read can talk about what is growing, now that spring is here, outside their houses and in their gardens and I enjoy reading about them even though I don't know one flower from another. I never had the ability or interest to find out. I never lived anywhere where there was an active garden. About flowers I'm ignorant, I admit it (I can't even make a cactus grow), but I admire the people who know about plants and flowers and can write about them in their journals. So keep growing them girls, and keep telling me about it.
In fact, I admire anyone who knows a lot about something that I know little or nothing about, especially when they share their knowledge with me. It means there is always something for me to learn.
I like to have an open, enquiring mind. There are still a lot of mysteries to look into. I finished writing my novel "Brian and Christine" and posted the last entry, yesterday afternoon. Then I took a nap. When I awoke the first thing I said to myself was "Okay, what's next?"
DB
___________
Have a good, happy laugh today.
********************
DB - The Vagabond
***************
Hello, whoever you are.
----------------
No man is more certain of his knowledge and wisdom than an ignorant man. I've known many. In fact, I used to be one myself. No, don't laugh. I was. I was a first rate, award winning, loud mouth dope. Thank goodness those days are over (now you can laugh). Now, of course, I know everything. At least I thought I did until I read a few items in today's paper.
There's a big difference between ignorance and stupidity, Ignorance is a condition that's curable, like youth. Stupidity is forever. I think ignorance comes about because people are afraid of change and challenge, or else they are too old and tired to face them and just want to dig their heels into the ground they know about. What a shame.
A friend's daughter, a school girl, was keeping a journal. She entitled it "Things I learned today." I thought it was a good idea, so I started to keep one of my own. But I divided the entries up into three columns: things I learned today, things I knew but forgot about, and, things I already know. I finally had to give it up because the columns were getting filled up quickly. But it did develop one valuable habit, the habit of seeking out new information, noticing it when it came upon me and comparing it with what I already knew or thought I knew about the topic.
Intellectual curiosity is an exercise that doesn't wear one out much, doesn't require a lot of equipment and isn't likely to cause any bodily harm. Why do people shun it as if it was going to send them up river to the funny farm. "All that reading of books isn't good for the mind."
Some of the women bloggers that I read can talk about what is growing, now that spring is here, outside their houses and in their gardens and I enjoy reading about them even though I don't know one flower from another. I never had the ability or interest to find out. I never lived anywhere where there was an active garden. About flowers I'm ignorant, I admit it (I can't even make a cactus grow), but I admire the people who know about plants and flowers and can write about them in their journals. So keep growing them girls, and keep telling me about it.
In fact, I admire anyone who knows a lot about something that I know little or nothing about, especially when they share their knowledge with me. It means there is always something for me to learn.
I like to have an open, enquiring mind. There are still a lot of mysteries to look into. I finished writing my novel "Brian and Christine" and posted the last entry, yesterday afternoon. Then I took a nap. When I awoke the first thing I said to myself was "Okay, what's next?"
DB
___________
Have a good, happy laugh today.
********************
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