We've seen them in our Facebook feeds, in news stories, in YouTube comments, and even sometimes in real life.

We ask ourselves, "how can someone be so stupid?" "How can someone be so ignorant?" "Why do they not see the world as I see it?"

We rant about these people to our friends. We talk about how broken the world is. We long for a day when everyone is as bright and intelligent as we are.

You think you want that, you tell yourself you want that, but if it happened, you wouldn't actually like it.

If everyone was thoughtful, if everyone was considerate of all possibilities, if everyone was reasonable, then what would that make you?

You would just be like everyone else.

You would have no one to look down upon, or complain about, or call names.

You need there to be "stupid" people in the world so that you can gain a sense of superiority. Even though your life is mediocre at best, you can always count on other people being dumber than you are. It gives you strife, but it sustains you at the same time.

And you don't just need there to be stupid rednecks either. You need there to be "sophisticated" stupid people as well. You need to see rich socialites on TV complaining that their Bentley has a scratch on it. You need to think to yourself, "I may not be as physically rich as them, but I have more emotional wealth than they will ever know."

So the next time you see someone make a "stupid" comment, don't get mad. Instead, thank them, and get on with your life.

...unless they still use AOL...then you can call them "stupid"
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