The Magic of the Dumb Guy Principle

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Photo by jimoconnell

We all face challenges. I’m not talking about having to make a touch decision or anything like that - I’m talking about challenging tasks. Things like changing a diaper for the first few days of having a new baby, or learning how to change the motor oil in your car by yourself. Things that have clear, well-defined goals that we know theoretically how to achieve, but simply lack the know-how.

I’m not sure why, but I have a hell of a time building IKEA furniture - anything that comes with more than a handful of parts and I’ll read the directions 2-3 dozen times over the course of the project. And it’s not that I’m especially dim or have a hard time following simple instructions - quite the opposite actually. And because I like to think that I’m a fairly intelligent guy, there’s one little mantra that constantly rings in my head when I’m stabbing myself in the eye with a Swedish allen wrench:

Somebody dumber than you has figured this out.

This isn’t meant as some sort of weird ego-stroke or anything - it’s a fact. For the most part, any activity or task that I engage in (and have subsequent trouble with) has been successfully completed by somebody dumber than I.

Think about it - unless you’re in charge of developing artificial heart valves or making the next Intel processor the size of a taste bud - most of what you’re doing has been done by somebody before you. And the chances are good that, among the people who have successfully completed your current task, at least one of them was dumber than you are.

I realize it’s a somewhat screwed-up way to motivate yourself, but it can be surprisingly effective - provided you don’t spend too much time dwelling on the obvious dysfunctionality of the whole notion. :)

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January 23, 2008 | Filed Under Hacking Life, Practical 

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9 Responses to “The Magic of the Dumb Guy Principle”

  1. Elaine on January 23rd, 2008

    I do something similar: being possessed of a low frustration tolerance, it helps a lot to get me through those tedious tasks I must do.

  2. Jennifer on January 23rd, 2008

    Wait, you mean there’s someone dumber than me?

  3. Marina @ Sufficient Thrust on January 23rd, 2008

    The Dumb Guy Principle is essentially how I learned to drive. I moved to Los Angeles a year after getting my driver’s license and was petrified of merging onto the 101 or the 5. Then I took a deep breath and said, “There are lots of STUPID people who merge everyday, so you can do it, too!” — and I did. Years later I don’t bat an eye at any highway situation.

  4. Chris on January 23rd, 2008

    http://www.thesixtyone.com/profile/#/jonathancoulton/collection/collection_item/4912/?autoplay_song

  5. lpdbw on January 24th, 2008

    Taking up the guitar at 39 years old, I thought: “Stupid 16 year olds can learn this. I can too.”

  6. Mike Vardy on January 24th, 2008

    Being the dumb guy definitely has its advantages - but the advantages jump exponentially if you ACT like the dumb guy. Rarely, if ever, if you are perceived as the dumbest person in the workplace are you given tasks that require a ton of effort. More often than not, you’re left to toil on the mundane - which you’ve gotten so down pat that you’ve managed to stretch it through the day and have a ton of leisure time at work as a result.

    Incidentally, I always buy the “as-is” stuff from Ikea. No assembly required. I can’ t read polygonal instructions, which is what new Ikea product seems to come with. Even the tea lights require that wrench!

  7. chris on January 29th, 2008

    I know that exact same feeling about the ikea furniture, lol.

  8. David Bradley on January 30th, 2008

    I know where you’re coming from, but think about it…that “dumb” guy is cleverer than you at wielding the hexagonal wrench and putting IKEA furniture together. It’s horses for courses ain’t it?

    db

  9. Trish on February 16th, 2008

    Wow! I never heard of anyone else using this before! I tell myself this all the time, seeing as I’m a 3rd year undergrad, and hopefully pre-med.

    “There are doctors out there who are less intelligent than I am. If dumber people have done it, why can’t I?”

    Weird, but it works! :)

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