People....occasionally....tend to not like me. Because...I'm, um, kind of a.....
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A Life of Correctness
This all really started taking off the beginning of this year. First, you might need a little background:
1. I grew up with a father who would say things like, "correct" instead of "right" because someone could say, "I turn left here, right?" and most people would reply with, "Right" and then they could become confused and think that the person was saying, "No, turn right" not that they were correct. 30 years and counting my dad still says, "correct" every time and that's the best way I can explain how my life to "correctness" began.
2. I hated having someone say something to me that I FELT was wrong, but didn't know the facts to back up how and why I knew they were wrong.
3. I didn't know how to argue. As Nick Naylor said in Thank You For Smoking, "That's the beauty of argument, if you argue correctly, you're never wrong." Well, I was sick of people like Nick Naylor, who just knew how to twist shit to work in their favor. I didn't want to be taken by people like him. I did, however, learn to argue like him, while being right.
But HOW Did I Manage All of This!?
I WENT TO COLLEGE!!!
And no, not everyone needs to go to college. Some people can just incessantly read and read and read and read and read.....and read. But me, I'm the type of person who learns best by listening to someone, in fact many people (an entire class) and seeing things. I can't sit, in my own element, and read out of a book. Or watch videos. I NEED interaction. And more importantly I NEED to hear other people's opinions, beliefs, experiences, and learn about different cultures. All of this has to, for me, happen in person; interactive.
SO! After FIVE YEARS of college (AA and BA in
liberal arts and science: psychology, sociology, and
English), as well as my many years of work experience and year of internships....and talking to an insanely diverse population (many who have become my friends) I've gotten to know a lot. And what I don't KNOW I find out.
That's how my recent ex-boyfriend and I got into a fight...well, many fights. He said things like, "The heart, like, has two valves....one for pumping sodium and one for pumping potassium" and "I saw it in this YouTube video....I don't remember who said it or what it was called and they said something like this...." but my favorite of all had to have been when he said, "Well, maybe I don't want to know everything! So if I'm wrong just don't tell me. If I want to know I'll ask..." Yet every time he knew something his coworker said was wrong guess who he called so he could prove that guy wrong the next time he saw him..... This also lead to losing a friend, which, in all reality, the friendship was fizzling for a long time. She was one of those girls who not only white-lied to other people but MEGA-white-lied to herself so that she didn't have to face the cold hard truth like: she was an overbearing and SUPER-overprotective mom, she IS girlie, she wants every man to fawn after her, but wants to turn 95% of them away, some guys just didn't think she was anything special, she picked and chose when she was a good friend, she's superficial, and she's not very good at her hobby -that she tries to make a career.
....why am I saying all of this now? Why didn't I tell her all of this stuff? Well, I did....I tried, in the nicest ways possible. Every time I tried to be open and honest she just shot me down and told me how that wasn't so. Not only with her, but with me. If I KNEW a guy wasn't interested in me I'd say so, but she'd just say, "Oh, no. He's just not ready for someone as mature as you." And I'd come back with, "No. I really think I'm just not the girl for him. No big deal. I'm a big girl."
But people don't want to know. She even said that you should only tell people they're wrong IF they want to know, otherwise you should just keep your mouth shut and let them think whatever they want. ---And we're not talking opinions here. We're talking about cold hard facts. So, sadly, she's a mother....and she's friends with my ex....so if he tries to help them with anatomy they're going to get F's on their papers about heart valves.
I'd rather be a know-it-all than the alternative. My (MANY) friends love how intelligent I am and use me whenever they have questions. Cause you better believe that if I don't know the answer I know how to find out the answer. I'm the type of person who would rather have TOO MUCH information than not enough. It's just like writing a paper:
You read 5 books
You read 30 (scholarly) articles
You watch 10 movies (and the extras)
You interview 3 people
---Find as many OPPOSING views as possible; in order to debunk them and make your argument stronger
And then you take ALL of that information and compile it into a concise argument, or paper, and thus you are prepared. But, unfortunately, there are people....who constantly....ask me to write their papers for them and look up the information for them. They don't want to do anything but reap the benefits. Me, I want to grow and learn as much as humanly possible.
However, those who are ignorant don't see it that way. They are threatened by knowledge, especially if they're wrong. So, for me, most times, "Sorrow Only Increased with Knowledge” as it did for Frankenstein's monster. But man, when you find an intellect like you, *kaboom,* aren't you fucking excited to carry on a conversation!!! They never say, "I get it!!! Jeeze!" and then tell you "what you mean" and are WAY off. Nope. Not only do THEY GET IT, but they'll more than likely go off on a tangent or two or their own on the topic and how it can be seen from a different angle or how it connects to something else relevant.....it's amazing.
That's Just the Nerd in Me....
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