DWIGHT SHRUTE says in the Office- Whenever I’m about to do something, I think/ask ‘Would an idiot do that?’ and if they would, I do not do that thing.The entire efficacy of this incredibly useful piece of information hinges upon your ability to pick the right idiot.          

I wish there was a fool proof way to spot idiots, but counter-intuitively, some idiots are very smart. They can dazzle you with words and misdirection. They can get promoted above you at work. They can even be elected president.

                                                      

If you want to be successful in this world, you have to develop your own idiot detection system. As a way of demonstrating what a huge gasbag I am, let me share mine –

Sure, I am naturally suspicious of people who never saw the original Star Wars movies, and even more cautious of the people who love the prequels and the sequels, but I admit this is not a reliable idiot indicator.

No,the best way to spot an idiot? Look for the person who is cruel.

 

Let me explain. When we see someone who doesn’t look like us, or sound like us, or act like us, or love like us, or live like us—the first thought that crosses almost everyone’s brain is rooted in either fear or judgment or both. That’s evolution. We survived as a species by being suspicious of things we aren’t familiar with.

 

In order to be kind, we have to shut down that animal instinct and force our brain to travel a different pathway. Empathy and compassion are evolved states of being. They require the mental capacity to step past our most primal urges. This may be a surprising assessment because somewhere in the last few years our society has come to believe that weaponized cruelty is part of some well thought out plan. Cruelty is seen by some as an adroit cudgel to gain power. Empathy and kindness are considered weak. Many important people look at the vulnerable only as rungs on a ladder to the top.

 

I’m here to tell you that when someone’s path through this world is marked with acts of cruelty, they have failed the first test of an advanced society. They never forced their animal brain to evolve past its first instinct. They never forged new mental pathways to overcome their own instinctual fears. And so, their thinking and problem-solving will lack the imagination and creativity that the kindest people have in spades.

I have found one thing to be universally true—the kindest person in the room is often the smartest,

 

Be more substance than show.

Set aside cruelty for kindness.

Put one foot in front of the other even when you don’t know your way.

And always try and appreciate the good old days when you are actually in them. And remember what Dwight Schrute said, ‘You only live once? False! You live every day! You only die once.’

 

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