I appreciate stupid in all its forms. At some level stupidity calls out to me and begs me to watch. Sometimes stupid lures me into participation. Everyone has fallen to the power of stupid at one time or another and it is nothing to be ashamed of.
At this time I want to clarify that I “appreciate” stupidity in all of its forms. I am sure you have come across a show late at night or perhaps heard something or read something and asked yourself; “Who would enjoy this?” I am your answer. It is me that modern media targets when deciding what should be allowed to take the precious minutes of our lives.
When I was a very young child I had the TV guide memorized from front to back. It came to a point that my mother at one time had to limit my TV viewing time to 2 hours a day. With the coming of cable it takes me longer now but I still can tell you when certain shows have gone into reruns. I average 3 hours a day in “news”, and I spend the rest of my day in search of ‘stupid”.
I choose to spend the majority of my day absorbed in the most useless programming I can find. I want to be clear here when I say I search out stupid. It comforts me. It makes me feel superior to the masses. It makes me feel safe.
I am not defining stupid here as comedy. Stupid as I understand it knows no bounds. Stupid is created when any idea is taken to such an extreme level that it makes a mockery of the subject.
What is Stupid?
The drama and heartache of a personal struggle with weight loss becomes “stupid” when we stuff the subject in spandex and parade them out to the masses. The facing of ones fears in some noble effort to better yourself becomes “stupid” when it becomes a testicle eating gross-out contest.
Anything that emphasizes an exaggerated version of reality in an effort to distract us from our true reality without providing us with any benefit is “stupid”. (This is of course a personal definition and when I say or write “stupid” from this point on this is the meaning and understood meaning I will be attempting to communicate.)
Having defined it this way I think now you can understand how I can say that I appreciate stupid. It is my belief that in understanding a thing we learn to appreciate a thing. Stupid takes my mind off the things I don't want to think about. Stupid is one of my distractions.
A very large part of me feels ashamed of myself for this, but another section of my mind tells me that the billion dollar decisions being made by the Ted Turners of the world are not made solely for my personal comfort. The shows are put out there to provide comfort for the majority. Like it or not I and maybe you are part of the majority.
A point to make here is that I also appreciate beer. Beer has many flavors and effects many people in many different ways. You can enjoy it. You can find what you believe to be comfort in it. I like beer. Beer is very much like stupid.
I am not the only person to like beer. They don't make all this beer for me because that’s what I want, but they are making it for someone. You can believe that they don't make it unless they have a good idea that someone is going to buy it.
Although you don't know it there has been quite awhile since I wrote this last paragraph. I have been reading and re-reading trying to figure out what I am missing. Its likely you got it by now and if you did congratulations and being a very big step ahead of me. Now here it is……
Stupid is not only on television. Stupid is not only a product that the media feeds to us. Stupid is everywhere. When you see someone distracted at work to a point that they forget there own life, simply apply the definition given above and confidently know in your mind they are not “dumb”, they are not “retarded” they are “stupid.” If watching them has distracted you from your life then what they are doing is “stupid” and you are “stupid” by default. There are many causes of “stupid.”
In some ways this Blog and this post are stupid. Using the definition listed above we can fit A LOT of things under the stupid umbrella, and yes that includes my precious beer.
Basically the provision of “providing benefit” is the killer. Benefits can be most anything but how much of our day do we spend where we get absolutely nothing in return! Like beer I know I should only allow myself a limited amount of “stupid”, but also like beer I am an addict. “Stupid” is free.
TV gives us “stupid” because that’s what we want and we are willing to pay for it. It does not matter how many channel you have the odds are drastically in favor of getting stupid just by turning on the TV.
What fundamental needs are we attempting to replace with stupid? If you failed to get anything from this post then the post is stupid. If you walk away thinking of a way to better yourself then its not.
