Would you rather be a worried genius or a joyful simpleton?

by Jonathan Hilton  Day 40

When I read this question I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. My answer is neither  but not because I have anything against genius or even anything against a simpleton, (whatever that means).

 I assume the question is designed to make you feel like genius comes with worry and if you are a simpler person you will experience joy. I reject the question as biased and borderline offensive.  Here are my thoughts.

Worry is a Choice

First lets look at the word worried. This is always a choice, you don’t have to do this.  This question seems to assume that only intelligent people worry and only people with no intellect are happy. This if offensive to me as a human being who strives to find a way to be happy, am I merely a simpleton looking for my natural state or am I a genius doomed to failure?

Worry has never made anyone more successful in anything.  No matter how much you work something over in your mind, dread it or want to avoid it, you still can’t stop it from occurring.

Any random, run of the mill genius should realize this, so if you are spending your life as a worried genius then you are, in my opinion only half right.  There are choices every day that people of all intellectual levels have to make which directly reflect on the experience they will have.  Just like kindness is a choice and what thoughts about life you pay attention to are choices as well.  I do not know much but I do know that  an intelligent person would be able to choose a better recourse than to waste their time worrying.

Why Judge?

There is a judgment in this question that should be ignored and pointed out. Who am I to differentiate between a genius and a simpleton. Suppose I am a member of the latter

group, I assume I would lack the skills to understand the question.

If I were in the former I suppose I would be too worried to function and display my genius appropriately.  I guess I don’t know why anyone would ask such a question.  These distinctions are all relative anyway to the intellect of others.

 I may be a genius to some and a simpleton to others, that distinction has absolutely nothing to do with what type of person I am, or how much I worry or am happy.  Not one bit.  We spend too much time in life labeling others and placing them in categories to feign some sort of understanding.

 I may be a simpleton which means I would be a little slow on the uptake but I know that we are all connected and the more time we spend dividing us the unhappier we are going to be in the end, no matter if we think mighty thoughts or nothing more significant than the batting average of a baseball player.

I have been fortunate to know many great people in my time, and intellectual ability has never been a factor in how I felt about them.  It was the kindness, the giving,  and the value they provided.  I have enjoyed conversations with people all of my life there is no intellectual entrance level of intellect.

The Worst Question in The World

Just reading this question I think makes the world just a little more of a difficult place.  I

apologize to anyone reading it, because I feel like just considering the labels of genius or simpleton makes us all a bit more narrow-minded.

 I hope to embrace all of my fellow human beings, not just some endowed with high levels of intellectual capacity, but all of them.  The phrase joyful simpleton is along the lines of ignorance is bliss.

 They are designed to demean portions of the population. Who are these simpletons? Where do they live? All of us have parts that are intellectual and others that enjoy the simpler things in life.  There is no reason to intellectually slander anyone for this.

Accept all people regardless of their intellectual capabilities,  if you think yourself a genius then start hanging around with smarter people.

Would you rather be a worried genius or a joyful simpleton?

We Are All Awesome!

Related articles

• 3. A rant on genius
• A Simpleton Speaks