Stupidity

I'm afraid it's pervasive in the modern world. One of its most irritating forms is found in stupid little 'feel good' new age sayings. People who think trite little sentences will inspire change for the positive litter the world and congregate in particularly large numbers on Facebook. I can put up with such people and their nonsense most of the time, but one of their pearls of wisdom particularly grates.

This one is often used to urge children on to greatness. Clearly, if every child in New Zealand set their hearts on a given goal, say being an All Black, then most are going to fail. Children are told all they have to do is dream and they can make 'it' happen, no matter how ludicrous 'it' is. But this is not the only problem with this particular quote. It's just not good science. If one shoots for the moon and misses, then one is probably going to hurtle back to earth at an alarming speed and ultimately burn up on re-entry. The chance of getting to the stars is minimal if one had insufficient thrust to get so far as the moon. Surely, the quote should actually read: Shoot for the stars and if you miss you will land on the moon, if you're lucky. The lucky bit is important, because life is a lot about luck, no matter how you plan and strive. 

All that being so, the really big question is why aim for either the moon or the stars? What is wrong with planet earth? It's really quite a nice place. Just like a simple, anonymous life is a deeply satisfying and worthy one. The modern child seems obsessed with fame, money or power as the measure of success. It's time we had a trite little quote about living a loving, gentle, giving life and finding contentment in simple pleasures. I'll keep my eye out.