The "Educated" Disease

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

BLAAAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGG!!! I hate it, I hate it, I hate it! I’ve been affected with the educated disease for about four years now (I caught it from my smart-ass Harvard grad of a brother), and I’m sick of it, and, as a result, myself.

For those of you who don’t know, the educated disease is when you are constantly criticizing things (movies, books, etc.) just because you can, and because it’s something to talk about.

It’s like, if you don’t have something negative to say about something, you must be stupid. For example, I’ll walk out of a movie I really liked. My brother will look at me, then look away. Eventually he will say, “So… What’d you think?” I, of course, constantly trying to fight the curse, say shakily. “I, uh, liked it.” I then collapse inside: “But, um, the plot was sh*tty.”

So far I’ve had no luck shaking it, (my mom seems somehow to have done it), and have earned a name for myself from my friends, “That guy who hates everything.” Now, this isn’t the best post I’ve ever written, but it oughtta get my idea across. Is anyone else infected? Don’t ya hate it?

2

You’re young. If you have any intelligence at all, you’re supposed to hate everything. Including what I just said. The fact that you recognize the affliction so early is encouraging. I was in denial until my early 20s.
Fear not. You’ll be fine.

3

I find myself engaging in this annoying habit while watching movies with historical settings. “Sleepy Hollow” was a half way decent piece of fluff, but I felt compelled to point out that coaches didn’t travel at night back then and that the horse blankets looked like they had Southwest Indian patterns on them. Of course, I had no problem accepting a headless dead man terrorizing the countryside.

4

I know not yer age or place Mrunner, but can only reflect the wise sentiment of TennHippie, and offer an aphorism authored by one I have long forgotten – “A pier is nothing more than a disappointed bridge; yet, stare at it long enough and you can dream it to the other side of the ocean.”

There’s no shortage of cab drivers with PhD’s, suffering only from the arrogance of their education and the resulting cynicism they were taught to display.

On the one hand, humility extinguishes genius by smothering it under the common cause; on the other, arrogance belittles genius by preventing its application to common cause. Somewhere in the middle is common sense, the courage of yer convictions, and yer self-confidence.

Always be afraid to disagree with the conventional path, but never hesitate to diverge when ye know yer bearings. After all, the old path will still be there if ye get lost, eh?
Dr. Watson
"There but for a finer metaphor go I . . . "

5

Excellent words TennHippie and Crick!

I just wanted to add that intelligence is only a portion of what makes a great individual. Be careful that it doesn’t stifle these other important characteristics.

Creativeness: the ability to “paint” outside the lines, push beyond the boundaries of the norm and use your imagination to invent that which we have not seen.

Open-mindedness: the ability to see things from another’s viewpoint and learn that “my way is not the only way”.

Compassion: the ability to recognize that imperfections are what make this world interesting and that just because something is flawed, doesn’t mean that it is worthless.

I am sure there are others, but these tend to be just as important to me as intelligence.

I really try to be good but it just isn’t in my nature!

6

It’s just a matter of redirecting your destructive energy towards a constructive end. Obviously, since you can find ways to dis things you really like, you’re pretty good at creative thinking. Now just use that energy to think up reasons why you like something.

I survived this period myself, and now find myself liking things that I “hated” in my teens. For example, I never thought I’d be able to admit it, but I do enjoy some of the music of Led Zepplin. Go back in time to 1979, and my 17-yr old self would have laughed at that concept.

Fight the power, kid!

7

I share your pain. Knowing a little too much about art or history and being unable to suspend disbelief sufficiently or enjoy anything unless it’s “supposed” to be terrible or ironic (i.e. HATED Independence Day, but LOVE Rocky Horror; hate Flintstones, love Futurama). I watch Beckett and my jaw sort of flaps around, going “but, the… they didn’t have… but…” After a film like Last Temptation of Christ or something, instead of saying “oh, that was so moving” I say “hey, that was pretty accurate.” I now hate art that everyone loves and love what everyone hates (“Gawd, why do you like Escher, Parrish and Dali? Ick ick ick.”).
As long as you realize you are afflicted with this disease, though, (we’ll call it Pomposis Simplex B) you CAN make it through family holidays with the relatives without seeming too big fer yer britches and no one will note that now that you gone to College in the Big City you think yer Too Good for Jackson Wyoming, or wherever.

8

Mrunner: It’s not that you’re overly critical of everything, it’s that everything sucks.

Stupid matter…

9

“Open-mindedness: the ability to see things from another’s viewpoint and learn that “my way is not the only way”.”

My way is the only way!

“It’s just a matter of redirecting your destructive energy towards a constructive end.”

But see, that’s just it. It’s destructive energy, not constructive energy. It isn’t just energy. I can’t channel it anywhere else but where it’s been headed lately. What I need is the ability to draw constructive energy from the positive aspects of things, and then utilize it to create a “balance in the force.”

… opens mouth as if to say something No…

But don’t you think that…

Well, this thread was okay, but…

DAMMIT JUST SHUT UP!

Thanks for the response, people.

10

If you’re not cynical, you aren’t paying attention.

11

Hate to correct you, but energy is just energy. What you do with it makes it either constructive or destructive.

It sounds to me like you’re mostly the victim of peer pressure. If you like something and your friends don’t, don’t feel bad about saying so. If they can’t understand, it’s their problem.

12

Cynicism is just the fear that someone else will laugh at your opinions. If you enjoy something, just enjoy it and don’t worry if you’re the only person who does. You’re not obligated to defend your taste to anyone else.

13

Nothing personal intended, but I’ve always been of the opinion that people who can’t find anything good to say about anything lacl imagination. While I hate mindless homilies like “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade!” (supposing I don’t like lemonade, huh?) the philosophy that:

[list=a][li]Everything sucks,[/li]
and

[li]Only idiots don’t fully appreciate this,[/li]
means that

[li]Anyone who doesn’t completely eviscerate anything that might possibly be enjoyable (especially “intellectual pursuits”, such as movies, plays, music, etc.) is a damn fool,[/li]
Is plain wrong.[/list=a]

The logic is flawed, as I shall demonstrate (and I am confident that greater minds than mine will agree).

If life sucks, then one must evaluate the decision to wallow in feeling vastly disappointed in the whole world because of this. If you are such a wit that you can easily see how awful things are, then why are you disappointed? Could you not see this coming? If you did, then what is there to criticize? It’s like eating at McDonalds and then complaining there is no caviar on the menu!

My own philosophy has been “Bloom where you’re planted.” I don’t know who coined the phrase, but the basis of the philosophy is, of course life sucks, but you’d better find something to like about it or you are garaunteed to be miserable for much of your existence.

It is often postulated that only the foolish and ignorant are happy. One must remember, however, that this theory is only seriously promoted by people who are not happy, thus calling their motives into question.

If the world is such a morass of mediocrity, I suggest a counter-theory: It takes a clever mind (or at least an ordinary mind focussed on the task) to discover what there is to be happy about; why the movie was good; why the meal was excellent.

Sure, there’s lots of (presumably) “lesser minds” who seem to be happy. What if it’s not so much a matter of intellect as it is sour grapes?

The next time your brother gives you that look as you walk out of a theater, give him one right back. “What? Are you too dim to see it?”

Having served in the military for 20 years, I have seen the effects of higher education on the younger mind. It makes it neither wiser nor more intelligent.

(If you doubt my word, just go talk to a “butterbar” [2[sup]nd[/sup] Lieutenant] for a few moments. Wisdom and intelligence bloom with age, which is one reason you’ll never see a 2[sup]nd[/sup] Lieutenant running an airbase, but working for a captain or above.]

Outgrow your cynicism. You’ll be happier for it, and it will annoy the hell out of your still-cynical friends (a source of much potential amusement in itself).

–Baloo

APHORISM, n. Predigested wisdom.
– Ambrose Bierce
http://members.tripod.com/~Bob_Baloo/index.htm

14

I think MK, Mrunner and Baloo are on the right track. It’s all very well to know that everyone else but you is stupid but if you must point it out to them you’ll be very lonely.

My brother is to put it kindly very elitist. He avoids confrontation by living in San Francisco and not visiting Arizona more often than he has to. There is a wide cultural gap between S.F. and Tucson and I respect the side he chooses to stay on.

I try to walk the line but even I have my limits. When I stayed with a relative in Montana for a while she saw my Life in Hell calendar and Big Book of Hell she thought I was the antichrist. I was amused but I didn’t let it bother me. She’s just irony impaired and doesn’t get Matt Groening. I just chalked it up to the fact that she has never been to Los Angeles.

They don’t call me the colonel because I’m some dumb ass army guy.

15

Always feeling compelled to “critique” everything with a critical eye is not only tiresome, but pointless. And, as mentioned before, it will leave you quite isolated - people get bummed out by such an attitude.

I am an artist (of no great consequence, but I have sold and produced various artworks through the years) and I find nothing more annoying than a person who has never actually created something (artwork, writing, etc.) to spout off with grand critiques. I totally believe that your perspective on the creative process is somehow altered when you have been through it all yourself. I’m sure that many artistic/creative types also fall into the “critical” category also, but I suspect that most of these types are not people who regularly display their own creative projects to the public.

Now, bear in mind, that all of us are entitled to an opinion, and just because a person is not personally creative doesn’t mean that they don’t know what they like. But - when people (like me) stick our necks out, and put ourselves on the line (creatively) are not exactly warmed by some pretentous idiot summarily dismissing someone else’s hard work (flawed or not). It seems a little obnoxious if the over-educated person makes a big habit of it - of always disliking or criticizing (sp?) creative works of others. I want to ask, “So where is your last movie? Where is your most recent work of art? Musical composition?” It’s so easy to be ultra-critical of other people’s hard work, when you’ve never had to stick out your neck and show everyone something original that you’ve done. And I find that often the most critical people are the ones who have never known how agonizing it is to put your work on display, and hear the careless and needlessly destructive comments of people who are trying to sound “educated” by disliking something.

Now, if this sounds like I am whining because someone has “hurt my feelings” by criticizing my work - that’s not it. I’ve had my share of bad opinions (and share of good opinions) and I understand it comes with the territory. I welcome insightful criticism, it can really be helpful to me. I’m sure most people would agree.

I guess I get mad on other artists’/filmakers’/whatever’s behalf - I get frustrated that some armchair critic feels compelled to hate everything, because they fear that if they actually enjoy something without reserve, it’ll show some sort of weakness. What a paltry way to think.

16

All right, so maybe it is tough to produce a work of art and display it, but I can hardly imagine that that is any reason why it should not be criticized. If you want to say “So where is your last movie,” so badly, do so. If the person on the other side of the conversation is of any intelligence at all, he will tell you that he doesn’t make movies, obviously, and if you want to criticize what he does do and display (perhaps nothing, so what? Criticize his criticism, something which he is obviously proud enough of to tell you), you’re welcome to do so.
Imagine a world where people walk out of a movie like Wing Commander and say, “Wow, that was really great, because, you know, it took a lot of work. It doesn’t matter that it was a piece of crap, since, you know, the people who made it worked on it, after all.” That world would suck, even worse than Wing Commander, probably.

Oh, and, Life in Hell is hilarious.
“How to write letters to the editor:
100 ways to say ‘I don’t like it.’”

17

I don’t think the OP was looking for pedantic tsk-tsks. It’s humor, damnit. The guy was sharing something he wasn’t liking about himself in a jolly way, not seeking a line of Boddhisatvas to tell him to drop the bullshit and repent. He’s already judged himself.

18

“Everyone is entitled to an informed opinion.”–Harlan Ellison,

19

Perhaps I was not clear. If Mrunner does not like his behavior, he is free to modify it. The fact that he has made a habit of behavior he dislikes only means it will take more than a little effort to bring about the reform he (possibly) desires. I was suggesting an alternative course of action.

Seriously, now. There are critics and then there are critical people. Not all members of each group belong to the other. The sort who critically evaluates another’s works to find both the good and bad within it is a quite different sort than the type who delights in deflating everyone else’s baloon. If one of the latter sort does not delight in such behavior, he must either learn to despise himself for a weakling or he must choose a path he may walk with pride.

Personally, I’d choose the path which makes me an annoyance to as many self-appointed “judges of good taste” as possible, but I enjoy annoying self-important people.

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http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Shire/8641/Devil.gif

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[Dear god let all my closing tags be of the correct type!]

20

I knew that my last post did not fully explain my feelings…

Mrunner:

When you put your work out for display, criticism comes with the territory. And, as I carefully made sure to mention, everyone is entitled to an opinion, whether they are creative themselves or not. Criticism can be very helpful, and healthy. I remember being told things about my work that pained me at the time, but were true, and needed to be said. My artwork improved because of this criticism. The reason certain critisicm was helpful was because it was given in honesty, with the intent of pointing out a problem - not because the critic was thinking “See how clever I am? I found things to not like! See how insightful I am?” An artist often can tell the motives behind a critic - when it happens enough to you, you begin to be able to tell the difference between constructive and destructive criticism.

No, that would not do at all - it would be dishonest to pretend something you did not enjoy was good because you want to be “nice” about it. There is a difference between that and between looking for something not to like, in order to feel your “educated” oats, so to speak.

I understand that the OP was being tongue-in-cheek, and knows his failings in this area. I am far from trying to rag on him for pointing out something that we have either been guilty of, or witnessed (and been annoyed by) in someone else. He expressed himself well, and I really appreciate him for bringing it up.

I just think that when someone has spent many years sticking their neck out in a creative manner, they are less apt to be ruthless and less apt to look for something to not like in another creative work. I think that often they have a different mind-set that other folks. I remember seeing this “educated disease” manifest itself in my older sister - someone who had never put her talents out there for everyone to see (the way I have.) Her attitude was far too heartless for my taste. For a while, she went through a phase where everything was “crap”. Everything was a waste. But, she was safe from having anything like that directed at her - she never created anything that would be a target for such words. How safe it is to always be the one deeming things “crap”. You never risk having such criticism directed at you.

I try to see the good in things, and enjoy what I can, even if I notice flaws. I feel like I get more out of the creative world around me because of it. (No, I don’t find something to like everything, that would be impossible.) I am not uneducated, (in art, at least) and I feel like my education helped me appreciate more, not less. And I think that’s the way it should be.