The Power of Fools
Alas, Dear Sapien, we are but fools. This is an inescapable fact of our species. Nature has blessed us with an awareness of right and wrong that is most clear after we are the second one. It's no reason to be ashamed, it is life that makes fools out of us. To be fair, sometimes we cooperate.
There's good news, being a fool is not as bad as you've heard. Heck, sometimes we even get close to recognizing its value. Mark Twain is among the greatest Americans to ever live, and he also made terrible business decisions, squandered whole fortunes, and frequently embarrassed his family with his antics. His wife, who loved him dearly, would sometimes throw up her hands and exclaim, "Oh youth!"
Mark Twain was ahead of his time in so many ways. He was a pioneer in recognizing the dignity and humanity and value of all Americans. He is thought to be the first American mega-celebrity. He was a fashion genius, thanks to him we have white suits.
There is also the idea of the holy fool. My favorite brother Karamazov was Alyosha, but I suppose everyone loves Alyosha. In Talking to Strangers, Malcolm Gladwell explores the concept of the holy fool applied to modern times. He believes they are like courageous outsiders, mistaken as naive because they speak the unconventional truth. He believes Nate Silver is something like a holy fool, and he even means it as a compliment.
Lest I sound cynical, it is important to recognize that we are much more than fools. The foolish part of us is only a part of us. We also have a dignified part that sometimes outshines the rest.
Part of the problem is that people think of foolishness and ridiculousness as the same thing. They are not. I don't have a dictionary but I'd guess that the definition of ridiculous is something like "deserving of ridicule" and fool is something like "lacking good judgment." Do you see the difference? This seems to me like an eye of the beholder problem.
I don't think anyone deserves ridicule. That might sound radical, but let's think about it. First, let them that have never lacked good judgment cast the first stone. Second, how does it help? Please contact me and tell me the true story where ridicule and mockery solved the problem without nurturing a much bigger problem down the road. Even if there was a possible scenario, that is not where our true power resides. It is much more likely that we only bring ourselves low.
Mr. T taught us to pity the fool. Exactly which kind of fool should we pity?
There is the serious fool. I'm thinking Alex Jones. He is not tethered to dignity in any shape or form, but he uses this power for bad things. He is equally untethered to reality. He always steers the story to a dark place. I am watching The Truth vs Alex Jones and it is difficult.
The annoying thing about having principles is that they are hardest to apply when they are most needed. Let us test our stand against ridicule, for if anyone deserves ridicule, it is the Alex Joneses of the world. Do you still feel like it? I honestly do not. He certainly deserves consequences. Hopefully not the kind that take away his humanity and dignity but rather give him an opportunity to find it again. Rather than offering ridicule, I would much rather understand what is driving the behavior. If there was ever an opportunity where I could offer him compassion, I would try it in a heartbeat. I've seen it do miracles.
If there was an alignment chart of fools, the opposite of Alex Jones would be Robin Williams— also not tethered to dignity. But rather than take the story to a dark place, he took it somewhere funny or beautiful or true. A lovely man, the best of us.
There is also the bitter fool. Life sometimes gives us a lot of reasons to be bitter. Perhaps we see no reason to have dignity when nobody treats us with dignity. We act the fool as a bizarre punishment. We become like The Joker.
At last, there is the fool who refuses to see it. This is the most common of the varieties of fool we should not follow. It is a path that leads only to arrogance and even bigger mistakes to never acknowledge. More and more, it feels like a prison. Thankfully, it is easy to jailbreak.
Why do we tether ourselves to dignity? An effective fool notices that people put on that leash to hide. An effective fool sees all the ways that people try to seem sophisticated and dignified and then makes a very wise decision: don't. It comes as a huge relief. For one thing, it takes a lot of effort and focus to maintain the charade. We could focus on something that matters more. And more importantly, it has a way of draining the fun out of life.
If we could ever truly tether ourselves to dignity, it might be worthwhile. The problem is, whenever we aim to do so, we tether ourselves to something else.
Occasionally we might find ourselves near dignity anyway, almost by accident. We find ourselves there when we trust the good impulses, the ones that tell us to help a stranger if we can and appreciate the beauty around us. The spirit of dignity within us leads us there, it turns out we didn't need the tether. These moments are beautiful.
An effective fool has a deeper connection to humanity.
This morning, I was walking to a bus stop on Colfax & Sable and I walked by a man I had never seen before. He was bent over, looking for a cigarette butt that someone gave up on too soon. His hair and his clothes were matted and unwashed. I was listening to my headphones and he said something as I passed.
"What was that?" I asked, taking off one ear.
“Do you have a dollar?” he asked, standing up and walking along beside me.
“I don’t, I’m sorry.” I said, slowing my pace.
"How is Gary doing?"
"I don't think I know a Gary."
"I thought your brother was Gary." He seemed genuinely surprised.
"My brother is John."1
"Oh, you mean Big John?" he said, and put his arms out to illustrate someone with a large, muscular frame.
"Yes, he is big!" I said, and we both laughed and held our arms out like muscle men as we walked down the sidewalk.
As we began to walk in different directions he looked over at me and smiled. "That's what I love about you," he said, mysteriously, as we waved goodbye.
I don't hear that very often. It made me feel great and I held on to the spirit while I danced, waiting for the bus.
Shout-out also to Dan.