On this wonderfully warm Sunday atop the Stoa I can not help but comment in retrospect upon what I see. People watching is fascinating and entertaining. Listening the the waves of humanity as they pass my steps is like channel surfing on a satellite HDTV.
Since the time of my youth, there was a joke floating around about men and their toys. Middle-aged men and their crisis-toys. I have found that common sayings of wisdom generally have kernels of truth embedded within. Let me expound on that for a moment.
In my time in healthcare, I have found that those with the most education and the most power and influence also tend to act the most child-like. Physicians especially. If they do not have something set up or running to their satisfaction they will, literally and physically, throw a tantrum (not all, of course, but enough for me, as an individual, to notice). Now, you would think that these highly educated and driven individuals would have the biggest brains in the room and thus, respond to stimuli in a rational, intelligent way. (buzzer sounds) NO. I believe that their position of power and authority makes them feel insulated from societies' restraints and expectations on behavior. In other words, they are reverting to their default mode to get what they want.
The support staff, the administrators, clerks, nurses, and technologists respond in restrained, sometimes polite ways to address the needs of these physicians because they ARE bound by societal requirements. The default mode is held in abeyance.
Likewise, the common adult, whether they be male or female have this default mode. Age does not automatically impart wisdom. Making mistakes, owning up to them, and learning from them is what grants one wisdom. Adults that refuse to allow these lessons to become part of their character, will more often then not, revert to their default mode when faced with situations for which they do not have to tools to address. This does not always take the form of the above mentioned tantrum, most of us do not have that level of esteemed protection. Adults are smarter, if not more educated and will act out in ways more clever than the average child. Passive aggressive, driven, back stabbing, etc. are ways that adults are described when they acting out. In fact, to be "driven" is thought by many to be plus, though I have never felt this. I see a little boy or girl trying to prove phantoms of their past wrong for calling them lazy or stupid. Overcompensation, I believe, is what psychologists call it. Teenagers are especially attuned to this. Usually, the adult will hear the word, "Hypocrite" issue forth from their teen when that teen sees illogical (yes, I can apply the word logic to a teen) rationalizations for their parent's past or present behavior. Be aware of this, mom and dad. They do notice.
Family issues at Thanksgiving and the holidays are examples of older children playing out old grievances without even really being aware. Some are acting out on feelings of jealousy or pride when dealing with siblings at the table. This really plays out at the reading of wills. The eldest always feel entitled to an estate despite the fact that their birth order is really a cosmic crap game. The eldest typically feels empowered by the fact that they are a year or two older than their sibling, even though the sibling may be a pillar of their society while the eldest leans on that pillar all year. This is childish behavior being displayed by adults.
The desire to have the biggest house or the most expensive car. Status symbols meant to show others how great you are. A reminder to others that they are somehow inferior. In modern parlance, I believe this is called, "Keeping up with the Joneses".
This trait is particularly bad when this person rises to national power and the State simply becomes and extension of their property. Dictators like Amin, Quadaffi, Assad, and Hitler come to mind. The state simply becomes a means to THEIR ends, tools to give and grant as they see fit. Ego and power, marching hand in hand in an immature individual. Never mistake Education for Intelligence.
I have seen many, many people who are "Educated beyond their Intelligence". Some people are very good with book smarts and getting good grades in training programs, only to fail miserably when they have to apply theory to reality. Those people tend to become University Professors. They force their view of something because they read it in a book without making allowances for the situation on the ground. Everything in life must be adapted, there is no "plug and play" version in life. An intelligent person recognizes this and takes the time and has the patience to see things through to a successful conclusion.
There are adults out there, and sometimes they rise to positions of importance. However, it also happens frequently that their childish counterparts smash them and their careers to pieces because they do not have the restraints on behavior that the adult has built in. They don't go to the boss with trumped up charges to get their rivals fired, however a rival may not have such restraint and the next thing the adult knows, they are out of work.
In the movie "Spaceballs", there is a line a love, "Evil will always win because good is dumb". Indeed. I think that a true, enlightened individual would recognize the "game" they are in even if they choose not participate. When the rival goes to the boss to complain, the enlightened individual will have proof of their innocence ready to go and will in reality see their rival go down in flames. Think on it.
Atop the stairs of the Stoa, I hear the trivial and the mundane. The personal fears, hopes and dreams of the Common Man. Who likes who and gee my boss is dumb. What is for dinner today and can you believe the ear rings she is wearing with that dress? Arguments over politics, thoughts of converting a friend to their way of thinking, forgetting all the while that their friend is attempting the same thing.
There is an evolution of children, though that evolution tends to be toward bigger versions of themselves. Over spending, over-thinking, mental neuroses, all rampant.
I enjoy my Sunday afternoons upon the Stoa. A quiet time to listen to humanity as it moves by me. An occasion to meet the rare friend with whom I can converse with, one adult to another.
Enjoy this Sunday, friend.
Live well.
--Zavost
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