I will admit, right up front, that I hate “list” articles, even though they seem to be very popular on the Internet.
There is nothing quite as immature and pretentious as collecting totally disparate things into a list, and declaring that they somehow share some essential quality.
With that said, I will also admit to being, myself, immature and pretentious. And also, fascinated by things that are overrated.
Daily Post readers may disagree with this list, which is my poor attempt to be comprehensive. The world is literally filled with overrated things; in fact, statistically speaking, 50% of everything on earth is overrated. (The other 50% being, of course, underrated.). But certain things are grossly overrated… and those are the things that, in my humble opinion, deserve to be exposed as fraudulently valued.
Let’s begin with the most overrated thing of all.
Travel, for enjoyment.
Which is to say, tourism.
The only thing truly enjoyable about “travel” is finally getting back home again. Whenever you have traveled to someplace pleasant and exciting, you unfortunately find it unpleasant and unexciting, because you are surrounded by tourists (like yourself) who are all looking for an authentic experience in a completely unauthentic setting.
Additionally, if it’s a popular destination, the restaurants will be overpriced; your waitress will be overworked and grouchy; the food will be barely edible; and you will have to wait 45 minutes for a table, just for the pleasure of being disappointed.
Of course, when you get back home, you want to tell all your friends about your trip. In reality, they are not the least bit interested in your experience learning about the archaeo-astronomy of the Ancient Puebloans who may have once dwelt at Chimney Rock. Even if your friends nod their heads and exclaim politely, “That’s so interesting…” behind their fake smiles, they can’t wait for you to shut up.
Then your credit card statement arrives, and you find out how much you spent… and you realize you actually couldn’t afford the trip. But now it’s too late.
I’m thinking now about my trip to the Grand Canyon, a place I had dreamed of visiting since my childhood. I arrived late in the day, with my new Nikon camera, planning to take one of those iconic photos of the golden sunset streaming through the towering sandstone cliffs.
Unfortunately, it was overcast, and drizzling rain. Which continued for the next two days of my visit. I brought home some postcards and brochures that showed golden sunsets streaming through the towering sandstone cliffs.
Socrates taught that philosophy is a preparation for death. For the rest of us, there’s travel.
Rock & Roll Music
Have you ever listened to the lyrics of a rock & roll song? I don’t recommend it.
You ain’t nothin’ but a hound dog, cryin’ all the time
You ain’t nothin’ but a hound dog, cryin’ all the time
Well, you ain’t never caught a rabbit, and you ain’t no friend of mine
or
Oh, yeah, you got that something
I think you understand
When I feel that something
I wanna hold your hand
I wanna hold your ha—–nd
I wanna hold your hand
‘Nuff said.
Human Intelligence
Among the seriously overrated things, right up there with travel and rock music, is human intelligence.
Compared to, say, the intelligence of an earthworm.
In fact, the two overrated things I mentioned above (travel and rock & roll) are Exhibit A. (Or Exhibit A and Exhibit B, if you want to get technical.)
It’s relatively easy to make the case that certain large animals — whales, elephants, bears, penguins, gorillas — exhibit an intelligence that approaches, and possibly surpasses, what we refer to as human intelligence. I am probably in the minority when I propose that even the earthworms in your flower garden exhibit an intelligence superior to human intelligence.
Has an earthworm ever composed a rock & roll song? I suspect not. Or spent three days at the Grand Canyon, waiting for the sun to come out?
I could rest my case right there. But it gets worse. Did a team of earthworms ever gather in the New Mexico desert, to invent the atomic bomb? No.
Did earthworms ever crash a ship the size of the Titanic into an iceberg? Nope.
Did an earthworm ever vote for Joe Biden for President? Ha!
Did an earthworm ever propose to write “a comprehensive list of overrated things”, and post it on the Internet?
Ah. But I’m just getting started.
A Clean House
In 2011, author Marie Kondo published her book, Jinsei ga Tokimeku Katazuke no Mahō , which was published three years later, in an English translation, as The life-changing Magic of Tidying up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing. Her Japanese art was subsequently shared in 2019 in the Netflix series Tidying Up with Marie Kondo, where she visited various American homes full of clutter and helped the families tidy up using her ‘KonMari’ method.
The ‘KonMari’ method — partly inspired by the Shinto religion — entails getting rid of anything in your home that doesn’t “bring you joy”.
Earlier this year, she was interviewed for a Washington Post article, and said, quote:
My home is messy, but the way I am spending my time is the right way for me at this time at this stage of my life…
…Up until now, I was a professional tidier, so I did my best to keep my home tidy at all times. I have kind of given up on that, in a good way for me. Now I realize what is important to me is enjoying spending time with my [three] children at home.
Many of us accepted messiness into our hearts during the COVID lockdown, and surprisingly, we didn’t die as a result. (From the messiness, at least.). Now, even Marie Kondo has given us permission to leave the mess for another day. Or month. Or year.
The worse part of Marie Kondo’s system — back when she still believed in a tidy home — was how it played out in my marriage. Darlene bought Ms. Kondo’s book, and decided to get rid of everything that didn’t bring her joy.
Thus, our divorce.
Which leads me to the next overrated thing:
Marriage.