Brain Rot. An epidemic that is spreading and intensifying by the second and the problem is, no one is even trying to stop it. The ability to think, the ability to debate, to ask questions… rapidly diminishing. Real conversations scare people. They grow tense the second someone disagrees with has a different opinion. Conflict ensues. Intellectual discourse is left behind as society stops desiring perspectives to grow. A general disinterest in what anyone has to say.
Recently I was speaking to someone who was completely silent after my minutes long rant about a topic. “Hmm, yeah” was followed by crickets and subsequently an awkward laugh. Silence. It made me wonder if my words had even penetrated their mind or not, and if they had, did they truly not have the ability to process those words? What did those words mean, what emotions did they evoke… what did they think about these words? Nothing?
This seems to be the trend. If I want to say something the response 99% of the time is “Oh man you talk so much!”. It always throws me off because this comment usually comes after 1 text, or after I’ve said maybe 10% of my point. Are people actually unable to intake more than just a few words at a time? Is it such a crime to want to connect? To want to learn? Just try asking someone what they think about something and instead of thinking, they immediately start fidgeting because “I don’t know” is the standard answer. This has been my life. Malnourished and hungry for an intellectual exchange interacting with people who don’t seem to have an opinion. Or perhaps they just never learned to make one! Wondering if I’m the weird one. Frustrated, bored, and possibly a little angry because of the boredom.
The past 24hrs on the contrary have been different. I’m realizing that that upbringing and background highly influence a person’s ability to think beyond the daily grind. What stimulates some people to think? Is the ability to think a luxury or a blessing? Sure, the daily grind is important, but can that really be all? Within the medical world I’ve asked several people what their hobbies were and you know what happened next? They froze. “I don’t have any”, verbatim. “I go home and read clinical trials”, verbatim. What?!
Intelligence is not measured in just book smarts but also in the ability to process and think about information, to ask others what they think, to draw references, to output what has been processed, and most importantly… it also lies in emotion. The application of emotion during this entire process. How did this discussion make you feel? Why? Did a differing perspective change that?
So why this post? It’s because I told someone I would write a really boring essay. As always, I turned to blogging because I had no where else to put my VERY random thoughts. This random thought is about their comment on my birthday, July 14th. I’ll call this newfound “weird person”, as we joked, “Harvard”. Most people’s response to hearing someone’s birthday is “noted” (and then forgotten). Harvard on the other hand immediately drew a historical reference which means 1.) He knows his history well to associate dates, and 2.) his mind has enough practice to be able to connect those kind of dots quickly. For first time in my life, I was thankful for being on team “weirdo” because otherwise… that reference would have fallen on a clueless brain.
“Ohh,” he said, “French National Day. So you are like the Statue of Liberty!”. I don’t know how to explain why I found this otherwise very simple comment so stimulating. Primarily because it connected so many random things together. Do you guys realize how realistically and purely linearly 99.9% of people usually think? Basically, it’s super rare to hear someone instantly think out of the box and connect so many random dots to an otherwise completely unrelated third topic. As we would say in Marathi, French revolution कुठे, Statue of Liberty कुठे, Sayli cha birthday कुठे? The second reason I loved this comment, unknown to Harvard, is because of what the Statue of Liberty stands for, and why that comment was personal for me.
On the surface, it was just a smart comment. Some may have even wrongly taken it as a compliment and nothing more. I say wrongly, because one cannot use it as a compliment if they do not know you well enough to know if it’s symbolism even describes you as a person or not. Harvard doesn’t know me well at all, at least not yet. Though I suppose if he reads this very boring essay, he will know me just a tad bit better.
So what does Lady Liberty symbolize? Taking the political context slightly out of it and possibly reaching I’m going to simplify it to four words. Liberation, Enlightenment, Acceptance, and Independence. Of note, I have never ever thought about the Statue of Liberty in heavy detail until this moment when Harvard’s comment made me realize that what she stands for truly is everything I value and believe a woman should be. The values life has taught me it is imperative to live by.
Liberated. Free to think, free to be. She should be comfortable in her own skin and not bound by any of societies rules that are harmful to her essence as a woman, just because she’s a woman.
Enlightened. She should be an intellectual. She should be enlightened / educated, so not to abuse that liberation. She should know how to wield it properly. She should know how to intake all knowledge or information and use it to form her own opinions properly. Her views should not be purely shaped by others, but by her own experiences, understanding, and judgement after weighing different perspectives.
Accepting. She should be accepting of the fact that different perspectives exist. Accepting of the fact that life may not play out by the book and that she may have to be quick thinking and ready to pivot as necessary. Accepting of different types of people and situations but at the same time also accepting of the fact that she isn’t obligated to do anything that doesn’t suit her. Sometimes acceptance that one may need to go against the rules of society is the first step towards liberation and enlightenment.
And most importantly…
Independence. She should be independent in every way. From her thoughts to her finances, she should be capable of holding herself up. Life is filled with ups and downs. A woman should be able to handle her own no matter what scenario presents itself. A woman should never need someone else’s anything to survive. People are a privilege. To have someone in our life to give us guidance and inputs is a blessing. To turn a blessing into a crutch would be a shame.
I would like to think I try living my life like this. Liberated by experience from a black and white mindset. Blessed with parents who allowed me to always form my own opinions. Enlightened because I truly believe perspectives matter in guiding me to think or act in as educated of a way as possible. Accepting and hence adapting, efficient, and a quick pivoter. Independent because I didn’t focus my energies on just making demands. Not from men, not from an otherwise well off enough family. Truth is, since the age of 21 I have been financially on my own. Loans to pay my education. Education to pay my loans. But I did it. Of course today I have casual materialistic gains from my efforts but more than these gains I have an immense pride surrounding the fact that whatever I have today, I am the one who built it single handedly. Needless to say, once upon a time the uphill struggle was real, but today the success is definitely something I value strongly.
I could go on about the French American Lady but I’ll just end it with a “yes, I suppose Lady Liberty does embody the values I strive for!”
And so, Harvard, your comment though casual was so apt, not because I have successfully become her, but because I strive to be that person.
Hence why I loved the comment. How is that for an incredibly boring essay?
From a mind that spends a lot of time thinking... 