I’m constantly hearing about special or wise people, people that are better than the most of us. Let it be scientists, university teachers, modern philosophers, writers, I hear names that seem more important than mine.

And if this wasn’t enough, I even talk with people that think that they are quite something themselves, much different and wiser than the rest of us.

Heck, my experience tells me that generally, nobody is that special.

Destruction

I am going to destruct the major/common opinion in two examples. The thinking is up to you, try to put faces on the following paradigms.

The writer / poet / scientist / artist.

We imagine someone quite known, like the writer Fydor Dostoyevski. I call him “the greatest”, but what did he do? He wrote books, stories of people that certainly went deep into describing the subconscious of their characters. So, what? Is it something that other people can’t do? Not everyone can do it of course, but many people can. It isn’t an ability so rare, that’s for sure.

Then, Salvator Dali, a well-known artist with many psychedelic paintings. What did he do? He painted what he saw in his dreams. Is it something that many other people can’t do? No.

Hmmm, Einstein. A well-known scientist, recognized as The smart human. Do you think that he made up by himself all the things that he wrote? No, he just made a small step forward on the path that many scientists had walked before him. Are there no other scientists? There are, for sure.

And I agree that they are better that the average person, but that happens in their own field of expertise. In the end, they don’t happen to stand out too much in a matter of general abilities.

But let’s take a look at them as people. If you asked them, do you think that they would know something more about the meaning of life than you? No. Do you think that they led a much happier and contentious life than you? Probably not. In reality, many top-on-their-field people can be compared to children considering their personal maturity. Or at least, they aren’t much different than the average adult.

The person in front of you that thinks that he is special.

Setting aside all these “celebrities”, take a look at the person sitting in front of you. He thinks that he is special for some reason (because he plays in a big football team, because he reads difficult literature etc.) but YOU CAN SEE his faults and gaps. Not only isn’t he special, but he may even be part of that large percentage of mediocre people that overly exaggerate about their personal value.

Is there anyone wiser than you?

Simply, have you even known someone that really knows more about life than yourself? He may know more about society, that’s a matter of years of experience, but does he know more about being happy than yourself? Does he seem like he is content with his reality? Does he seem like he wants to teach nothing to noone? Does he seem like he knows that he is a mere “ant”? There is a big chance that this person is much wiser than your average “wise”.

So…

Nobody is wise, nobody knows more about life than you do, nobody is quite special. Simple stuff. 🙂

Read also: The way for a happy life – Be small!