You CAN Fix Stupid
As I was driving home the other day, I took the time to read the decal on the back of a truck in front of me. I usually avoid reading such things, as generally they’re foolish. Mostly stick figure families or someone simping for law enforcement. This one was no exception and had a phrase I’d seen a few times before: “You can’t fix stupid.”
We’ve all heard that one, right? It’s the name of one of Ron White’s comedy albums, as most truck decals are. I ask myself if this is an inherently negative sticker. The driver probably had someone in mind when they stuck it to their vehicle. Maybe a group of people, a political party, a movement they don’t agree with. I’ll admit when I see a vehicle that is absolutely covered in stickers it puts me on edge. Usually the stickers are all anti-something and absolutely hateful, and it makes me nervous that a driver is full of this much hate that they have to wear it like a suit of armor.
But I kept pondering that decal for longer than it deserved. I don’t know, we must have been stuck behind a few red lights. It’s a dismissive attitude towards whatever qualifies people as stupid. Is it so bad that people can’t be fixed or helped? It seems to be implying that there are people in this world that we have to write off as worthless. (Side note, estimating something as worthless is called “Floccinaucinihilipilification”, a word I learned on Youtube.)
Every day we tell ourselves that some lives are worthless, from the homeless freezing in the streets to the families getting the life bombed out of them in faraway countries. We tell ourselves they are worthless to spare us having to feel sorry for them, or because we are determined to convince ourselves that nothing bad is happening. Once we have taught ourselves to close our hearts off to a few groups of people, we can apply that to others. Before you know it, we don’t care about anyone anymore. It’s how fights start, wars get supported, and countries become fractured.
It feels like people are constantly looking for ways to make themselves superior, but not necessarily smarter or better. A desire to not be the butt of a joke or to present ourselves as if we don’t have any faults or make any mistakes. Everyone is, in some way or another, “stupid” and that’s perfectly acceptable. I think it would be better to work on the things you think you need to improve instead of just making noise about how the “others” are being stupid. It’s hard not to be a cynic in this day and age (and in an election year, no less), but I hope that people can start rediscovering empathy as opposed to closing off their hearts and minds.
And back to the question at hand: can you not “fix” stupid? Of course you can. Almost everything can be taught. Most employees can improve at their job, you get better at drawing the more you do it, your standup becomes better after you bomb a few times. People are capable of learning new things, from playing a musical instrument to driving a piece of heavy machinery.
Of course there are factors that contribute to people being “stupid”: a lack of accessibility to education, limited resources in our areas, and so on. It can be hard to find motivation to learn/try new things, but we’re all about that on this blog. So ask yourself: What am I “stupid” about? Is it something I can learn? Am I willing to learn? Why or why not? It’s never too late to learn something. Maybe we can’t fix stupid, but we can make ourselves better. Put that on the back of your vehicle instead.
If you feel like sharing what you think you are “stupid” about and would like to improve, or just want to share what you’ve been Trying lately, there’s a part of this blog here to submit such things anonymously. It’s good to share our struggles with each other, even if just virtually, so please give it a Try.
