Seductive but wrong ideas

It’s a very seductive idea, being a funny guy, that you can get away with a whole lot of immature behaviour. It’s easier to not even try to be normal like everybody else. People see after a while that you are an unusual kind of fellow, and you get a little more license to indulge in your funky style. You know that you can get away with certain things few others can get away with because people can usually say “he’s numbernine”, and then they give you more leeway. That if you can make a comment funny enough, you can say anything no matter how cruel or wrong or obnoxious it is.

It’s seductive, but wrong. Everybody has to grow up sometime. Sometimes growing up is simply a matter of it being part of your instinctive nature to make the world a better place by not dumping shit on people.

It’s a very seductive idea, once you’ve experienced a cute chick who likes books, that all you have to do is just to read a lot of books and know a lot of stuff. There will be somebody who will come along who’s as erudite, and has an equally great ass and she will make your dreams come true.

It’s a seductive idea also that knowledge is power, that good things will come about once you understand the various principles that underlie the workings of the universe. That you will naturally have the upper hand in things and can also use that power for the greater good.

A seductive idea that because you have put in the work learning how to articulate your thoughts clearly (I was a science student and this didn’t come naturally to me) you can talk your way out of any situation.

A seductive idea that because you are good at all this bookish stuff, it automatically makes you a more interesting person. That just because it's your best trait, it's also one that others will like.

It’s seductive, but wrong. Real living is so much more than just books. Real knowledge is more than just books. There are cute chicks who just do not much more than read plenty of books but unfortunately they are easy to get bored of. So much of what passes as knowledge might just be homilies repeated over and over again until they become meaningless.

True understanding and mastery of the world also depends on your skill at being able to engage and interact with people. It’s fairly fun to be a geek, but the whole idea is that geeks aren’t fun to be around with for very long.

It’s a seductive idea, that given your current lifestyle (no house, no car, no girlfriend, a high savings rate) that you will never struggle to make ends meet. Earn little, but live little. That you don’t ever have to source for more income, or work too hard to manage your finances.

Seductive but wrong, as you will undoubtedly reflect when you’re old, inflation has eaten up all your savings, the house and car have eaten up everything, and you’re scrounging around.