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The person status

Sometimes I like explaining my introvertedness like this: I can’t handle people.  Well duh, you may think.  But what you don’t see is that there is a corollary to that theorem, which is: but I can handle persons, even a lot of persons.  And now you’re all like, huhh???

Yes, it’s true.  I can’t handle people, but I can be around a lot of persons.  But it’s for specific and rather nuanced definitions of “people” and “person.”

Here is a standard definition of “people” as given by Merriam-Webster.

plural :  humans making up a group or assembly or linked by a common interest

And now one for “person.”

human, individual

A person is a human and people refers to a group of these humans.  So how is it that I can stand to be around persons but not people, which would basically be the same thing as persons?

Well, I call attention to the second part of the definition of “person,” being “individual.”  I can stand being around individuals in that they are a separate entities who mean something to me.  But when I refer to people, I don’t really see the group of humans as separate individuals who have significant meaning in my life.  They’re viewed more as a mass or just even as separate humans who don’t have significant meaning in my life.  And since I have so little energy to spend on being in social situations already, I cannot spare much to being around people.  What energy I have will be dedicated to persons in my life and these persons might even be gathered in a large group and you might see me socializing with them.  And it’s solely because I see myself in a gathering of persons and not around people.

That being said, there are still differing levels of personhood for me.  I’d roughly divide them into four different groups and I think I’ll only elaborate on the last one.

  • Honorary person status
  • Person-3 status
  • Person-2 status
  • Person-1 status: There are very few individuals who have this status as there are very few whom I’m willing to be around all the time, even on the worst days of not wanting to talk to anyone and wanting to be by myself.  Those with person-1 status would include my immediate family, the closest of friends, and…Yaris.  Yes, Yaris.  Who is not human.  But I can handle her being around me even on the most introverted of days, probably more so than any actual human person.  She probably helps be get through those days better than any human person.  Horse doesn’t have person-1 status, in case you’re wondering.  He might be…person-3 at best.

Um…I’m a jerk.  Haha.

Why idiots often rise to the top

Guys.  I think I’ve inadvertently stumbled upon why the phenomenon of how idiots (as opposed to someone more qualified) are often found in positions of power occurs.  (I’m thinking of you certain possible GOP presidential candidate, certain former Venezuelan president, certain former Afghani president, a whole slew of former Taiwanese presidents, certain managers I’ve had the pleasure of witnessing in the act of managing, etc.)  Wanna know, wanna know??

Ahem…it’s because idiots are less dense than the surrounding matter and therefore, they will rise to the top (this totally needs to be on a shirt or a poster or something).

TADA!!  Makes so much sense, doesn’t it?

Think about it, say in a sea of normal, everyday employees, somehow the one with the least common sense and often the least courtesy toward fellow employees, the least idea about how a project should be managed, the least technical knowledge, the biggest ego, the most insecure, etc is somehow the one to be promoted to a management position.  Why?  Because everyone else with common sense is weighed down by their common sense (and technical knowledge and common courtesy).  The idiot managers don’t have (much) of that stuff, so they are relatively less dense and they rise to the top.

Have you ever thought about the expression “filled with hot air”?  I would argue that the idiot managers also tend to be filled with hot air.  Gasses at warmer temperatures are less dense than gasses at lower temperatures.  So again, idiots are less dense than the surrounding matter and therefore can rise to the top.

But what of the rare non-idiot manager, you ask.  Yes.  Those do exist.  I have worked for a few of them.  And well…you can get a metal pin to float on water.  Metal is denser than water so you wouldn’t think that would be possible.  But surface tension!  It’s probably surface tension that allows these rare non-idiot managers to achieve their management positions.  I guess the surface tension is all the employees with sense who like to work with caring, good managers.

The problem with this is that if you disturb the surface tension the pin sinks as you would expect it to.  I’ve unfortunately seen this with good managers too.  I guess they’re just too full of common sense (technical knowledge, common courtesy, actual care for their people, etc) to stay afloat.  It’s…so sad.