Why Mediocrity is not such a bad thing after all

Aha, another blog post !

Yes, indeed. One day I will check this link and find that blogger has removed it for lack of any recent posts. But it doesnt mean I have stopped writing. I write offline mostly these days, and this blog post is just one of the little articles I came up with on paper.

All over the world, people want to be richer, happier and of course 'more intelligent'. This post has its origins in 2 things : one - This post by Seth Godin and secondly, an online chat with a friend.

In the Indian context, this is especially true, where intelligence is exalted and young children are encouraged to become "Einstein's" ( though that is exposed to be a totally hypocritical point of view as one grows up. )It is not unnatural to see stripling kids poring over voluminous books from a very young age. Also case in point is the no. of young quizzers, loaded with fantastic knowledge cropping up today. The Indian society's collective love for intelligence and knowledge is exemplified by the craze to get through IITs, IIMs ( or on a humbler level, coaching centres like Vidyamandir in Delhi ). This craze is probably not because of any genuine love for the subjects of engineering or management, but probably because " Only the best go there ".

So why would someone born and brought up in this tradition prefer to advocate mediocrity?For one, mediocrity is the great leveller. However much we revel in intelligence, the inescapable fact remains that the majority of any society shall always be mediocre. Intelligent people have a variety of problems to contend with that mediocre people are unaffected by. For one, intelligent people bear the burden of expectation in society, especially young intelligent people. Parents often push children excessively towards scholastic learning if they see a small spark in their kids. It oftens becomes their undoing. In the case of lack of proper emotional stability, intelligent people when met with failure, turn depressed.

Secondly, intelligent people have a penchant to do unconventional and out of the box things. Many a times, they seek to make a career out of these. However, many a times they end up burning their hands. This is because for any career or profession to succeed , it must gain acceptance by the majority, who are by nature, mediocre, and unable to grasp the exciting ideas that the intelligent mind has. One only needs to see the fate of intelligent people who have failed in life : one is likely to see characteristics like failed marriages, suicide attempts, bouts of alcoholism or recourses to drugs.

By contrast, the mediocre are a much more contented lot. The run-of-the-mill paths of their lives may be boring , but they have an inherently low risk associated with them. Mediocres have the huge advantage of being shielded from the dangers of being excessively critical , but at the same time are good enough to seek a living and prosper in a society of mediocres. Mediocres will confirm with this group, whereas the intelligent will fight for an individual identity.

From a business point of view, as Godin points out, mediocrity is great. It encompasses the largest market and all marketing and advertising is directed to capture its imagination. And knowing the tastes of the masses is essential, just to be 'in sync'. The group has a strong peer influence and consumer decisions arent always based on rationality.

Another advantage of mediocrity is that it gives one a lot of focus in life. If you concentrate on achieving something, you can build up a zeal and work hard towards it. The intelligent man is beset by the problem of 'overthinking the problem' and at times, excessive criticality of the method used ends up foiling his quests. And then, there are many jobs in our lives that are mundane but have their own importance. An intelligent man is likely to become discontented doing these whereas the mediocre but methodical man will have a contented time and ensure that his day-to-day activities do not suffer.

So, is there any point in being intelligent? :) . Yes. Intelligent people are capable of understanding the importance of the mediocre and often can employ schemes to exploit them to their own advantage - e.g. politicians, lawyers, business leaders etc. Apart from this, intelligent people can understand the beauty of the creation around us and be a part of the society that continuously takes us forward on the path of development. There is its own specific joy in that. e.g. scientists, engineers,doctors,philosophers, or writers. But Intelligent people would do well to take credence of the importance of the mediocre, else they are likely to face much greater discontentments in life.

This post is half in jest. Do not draw serious conclusions from it . :)

EDIT : Just 2 days have passed and I receive news that I have cleared Mensa's test. Ironical, eh ?