I was flipping through the channels last night and came across Justin Timberlake giving a concert. He’s a hugely successful artist. People all over the world love him. He’s sold tens of millions of CDs. This presented me with a mystery.

To me, Justin Timberlake sounds like a shockingly untalented guy with a lot of musical training. Why do I perceive him that way when millions of his fans do not?

One explanation is that I have excellent taste in music while the people who buy his albums do not. Yay for me! I am musically gifted and superior despite my inability to play an instrument!

The other explanation is that I am mentally defective. I was born without whatever gene would allow me to take pleasure in this particular type of art. Since so many people have the capacity to enjoy his music, it must be normal to like it. I am nothing but defective and abnormal.

I see this situation every day, but I’m usually on the receiving end. People e-mail or leave comments in various blogs telling me that Dilbert sucks, despite the fact it’s in 2,000 newspapers, in 65 countries, with 20 million Dilbert books and calendars sold. I admire the self-esteem of the people who look at the incompatibility between my commercially successful art and their sense of humor and conclude there’s something terribly wrong with me.

The e-mail I have NEVER received goes like this: “I do not enjoy Dilbert, but since many people do, I assume the problem is on my end. Something is wrong with me and I am just writing to let you know I am defective.”

This is one of those “everything you need to know about human beings” situations. Any incompatibility between a human and the world is seen as proof that the world is screwed up. If a politician wants to give ME a tax break, he’s a visionary. If he wants to give YOU a tax break, he’s a frickin’ thief.

Describe the last time you disagreed with a popular opinion, about anything, and concluded that the problem is with you?