The trouble with the word, 'stupid', is that it implies stupidity. And stupidity implies something base and pointless. Nothing could be further from the truth. Nothing people do is without an aim and purpose. Even stupidity.
The trouble (2) with the word, 'stupid', is that there are people who believe they are above being stupid. They take great pleasure in proving that if something is stupid it shouldn't be done. They even define what they think the word, 'stupid', means. And what does it mean? It means what they think it means and what they think the can sell as a meaning to others.
We all disagree on what 'stupid' is. I'll take an example of one of my pet hates: golf. Gosh, golf is just so utterly stupid, IMHO. In My Humble Opinion. In MY humble opinion. In MY opinion. You see, claiming that my opinion is the truth is simply, well, stupid.
I have some great friends who love golf. A strange walk, with a strange bag of clattering sticks, taking hours of your life away, with strange clothing (why is there a set of im-not-currently-golfing-but-I-am-a-golfer clothing and another set of im-currently-golfing clothing? what's with the strange colours? the strange Star Trek-esque sticky-out shoulder pads? the women with visors and the men with baseball (baseball??) caps), the endless stultifying boring TV coverage (is it just cheap?), etc.
You see, I think golf is stupid because I don't get it. And, to be honest, I don't want to get it. So, I think it is stupid. I'm not just saying this for the sake of the blog; I think golf is stupid. Am I right? Personally: yes. Globally: case not proven.
When poked humans have the weirdest range of preoccupations: walking, gardening, TV watching, old book collecting, loud music playing, etc. I expect there are some strange people out there for whom walking through mud and midges in pelting rain, sweating wet, to drop onto a wet hummock, to eat a squashed sandwich and a frozen chocolate bar on a wind-blown mountain top isn't a personal pleasure. I don't get people who wouldn't enjoy this. It's - again I am being honest - great fun. Even the prospect of dropping dead on a mountain side and my body not being found until a thaw in summer 2031 isn't a bad way to go - beats taking an extra stroke on the 9th, as golfers sometimes exit life stage left. (even the thought of being found dead in a pink jumper, yellow trousers, white shoes and a cap saying Fitleist (who him?) is to me unthinkably stupid.)
We humans also have a range of accepted tastes. This word, 'taste', is a lovely way of defining other people's stupidities. I know people who like the movie Zoolander. Or listen to Queen. Or think Graham Norton is, well, funny. These people have different tastes from me (i.e. tey are stupid.) There are, I believe, those who don't laugh at The Mighty Boosh, or find a Wagnerian opera long'n'loud'n'Germanic, or who can't appreciate the awful'n'good movie Excalibur. These people have different tastes from me (i.e. I am stupid to them.)
You see, it goes both ways. If you don't get my stuff then it is stupid to you. And by no getting it you are stupid to me. What a stupid word, 'stupid', is.
Maybe, just maybe, there are people out there who don't get video games and video gaming. Maybe, just maybe, they do things with their time, money and living rooms that video gamers might, just might, consider stupid. Maybe the anti-gamers like doing cross-stitch, or listen to Val Doonican, or do The Sound of Music in karaoke. Maybe these aren't actually stupid things to do with your time. Maybe these people have different tastes from video gamers.
Mario is daft, as is Sonic. Final Fantasy is uber-geeky. Gears of War is bang-bang-you're-dead fun to play. These games take time, money and mental effort. They are fun. They aren't stupid.
As our colonial cousins 'cross the pond would put it: Your Mileage May Vary.
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