Boy do I remember kids saying that to me, and one of my favorite was “You are dumber than a door knob”, and I still use “they don’t have the brains God gave a crowbar” How about “well at least you know they’re not wasting any money on aspirin – NO Brains NO Headaches”.
“Confusion is a word we invented for an order which is not understood” – Henry Miller
I think I have been giving confusion a bad rap. For years I have always though that being confused about something was a bad thing, and I must admit that it (confusion) has made me feel stupid at times, mostly because of what it does to my head.
Have you ever had an idea and around it many many little satellites of thoughts, pieces of other ideas and pictures, sometimes lots of pictures?
And, at times they will swirl around in your head with no particular order, a piece of information will come zooming into focus and than drift back and be fuzzy, and than another piece will zoom in and be very clear for a moment, and than drift out of focus.
Until you kind of like have an implosion of the brain where something inside you yells “ENOUGH ALREADY” can we not do this now, and you go onto other more simpler things that are much clearer and organized (like making peanut butter toast) until . . . something triggers that thought or idea in your head again and the whole process starts over.
Not being able to put them into a workable, functional order is what confusion is, and it is hard on our brains to think like that.
There are a lot of things I don’t understand, I don’t know how to do brain surgery, or build a bomb, because I don’t know anything about it. I’m not confused about these things I just don’t have enough information to understand how to do them. And than there are some things I know a little about – like how a car engine works, I can give you a basic explanation, but I would leave out many details – again because I don’t have all the knowledge not because I’m confused about the knowledge.
That means being confused - is an indication that you’re on your way to understanding.
If you are confused about an idea that must mean you have the data, probable lots of data, (otherwise why the confusion) it’s just not organized in an understandable way yet. So what you’re saying is “I know this stuff, but what I don’t understand is the order in which makes this stuff usable and functional”.
Another thought – doesn’t that put being wrong in a whole new light?
Oh, you can be wrong because you don’t understand, and don’t have the knowledge. But, there is also a wrong that’s part of a process that can only come about because you have some data, it’s just not in the right place or order?
So that being said “Being Wrong” based on confusion, is a good thing.
Something we should embrace, something to be proud of, because if we continue on with the “Being Wrong” process and apply the knowledge we learned from wrong we have eliminated one approach or path and can move onward to the next and the next – I believe this is exactly how Tom Edison invented the light bulb, isn’t it?
So we need to get our children to scream “YES, THANK GOD I’M AT LEAST WRONG”, instead of the hang dog look and the long face and the negative feelings we have taught them
Confusion + Wrong + Perseverance = Success
Now another thought – So does that mean when someone calls you “Stupid” what their really saying is “Confused” and if they in turn call you “Dumb” what their really saying is that you don’t have enough information to understand?
Kind of takes all the poop out of name calling doesn’t it, because instead of getting mad at them you would probable have to agree and say “yes, as a matter of fact I am stupid about a few things and definitely dumb about others – and, Thank You for noticing the difference”. – Most don’t!!
Stay Health and Strong
Love
