A Mediocre Youth

There is, in my opinion, no attribute that generates greater admiration than creativity, in any of its forms of expression. I have come across a good number of people who possess a lot of knowledge and yet, only some of them could be considered creative.

Creativity involves some beliefs, I don’t know if I should call them popular, that I consider erroneous and that were established for convenience, such as the subject of intelligence. I consider intelligence to be a problem, when I think about the meaning that society has wanted to give it.

According to that meaning, intelligence is the ability to solve complex problems, to possess a great memory and to have abundant knowledge. For me, this is not intelligence, since if it is not linked to a particular sensitivity, it means nothing, nor is it of much use.

I notice that in Venezuela everyone is called intelligent: at the level of studies, a boy can be considered brilliant for the simple fact that he shows ease in memorization; An orator who delivers speeches full of borrowed phrases, beautifully formulated ideas, and Latin sentences is considered intelligent, and they will be admired even more if they do not understand a word of what the speaker is saying. I believe that society and its conditioning of seeking approval from others, induces the common individual to think that what is important is not being, but appearing.

This type of person is colloquially known as a “pantallera” (a person who pretends to be something he is not). And the pantalería has broad ethical implications (the professional who simulates great skill in his field and yet makes serious mistakes in the practice of his specialty).

In my concept of intelligence, I believe that its highest expression is centered on creative capacity. At first, observing this sentence superficially, it seems very unstimulating and very limited, however, and permanently, through our behavior we demonstrate how creative we are. Through our opinions, the way of life we ​​lead, the existence or not of ideals and many other attitudes, we give proof and more proof of whether or not we are creative.

Socially, the meaning of creativity is confused. The cultured individual is believed or considered creative. And even more, the mistake is made of calling someone cultured without knowing the meaning of that word. Cultured does not mean knowing by heart all the important works of Universal Literature, that only shows a great capacity to memorize; the adjective cultured refers to the transformations at a personal level that the search for knowledge undergoes and that is achieved over the years, through reading or the cultivation of some art.

Putting food in your mouth does not imply swallowing it; with this I mean that an individual can go through the best universities in the world and they do not go through him, the same example applies to the best works in the world in literary matters; many read and yet remain the same as before: with the poor spirit that characterizes them. An Argentine philosopher says that there are men and shadows. Anyone who tends to imitate moves away from creativity and vice versa.

I find a special relationship between creativity and firmness in personality. While it is true that we all have personality, it is also true that very few have it developed and firm enough to serve as a basis for being creative, since creativity requires boldness and self-confidence.

The creative man has a problem in front of him: the mediocre, who accumulate and form a mass, oppose his creations. The mediocre, fight for everything to stay as it is, they do not want any change, because things, as they are, please their comfortable life and on the other hand, they are not stimulated by envy. It is paradoxical that a creative being is held back by a mediocre one.

The mediocre man, if we find him alone, has a behavior full of fear, since he does not have the bases to support his reasoning, and if he does, he is afraid to expose them, in case a dispute is generated and then he does not know how to get out of it; The mediocre generally needs to have a group (remember that the more primitive a man is, the more he seeks the group and its support) and when forming a mass, then the situation becomes dangerous, since society becomes something very mediocre (they seek to crush creation and instead encourage mediocrity).

I think that in this sense Venezuela is very affected and the worst of the matter, at various levels: in politics (at the level of leadership, in the way of governing, in the intentions that move men); all the other branches of knowledge and action are also contaminated by mediocrity. That is why the few people in that country who do well in their area, are considered geniuses.

Mediocrity has its roots in an error at the level of intentions: I suppose it is something to do with education. People want to know to show off and not to know, to improve themselves; people die because of their vanity. This issue has always worried me, sometimes to the point of mortifying me, because societies are a reflection of their people.

Someone little known once said: “Today’s generation is stupid.” I completely agree: just by listening to certain popular rhythms and paying attention to the lyrics of those songs, we find that if they do not have a central erotic theme, they refer to themes that stimulate mental inertia.

Young people, with the exception of very few, mostly tend towards inertia; it seems as if they have no blood running through their veins, they do not have ideals, they do not choose to challenge themselves and try to change the system, or even to tell some truth to incite changes in their environment. It is impressive the superficiality that surrounds them: they see things superficially and conform to everything that is established. I understand them but I do not admire them, I do not admire those who live under the seal of mediocracy.

It is true that I cannot generalize, but it is undeniable that a good part of Venezuelan youth is like that: I believe that they have reached the conclusion that everything in life is destiny and everything comes, therefore, there is no need to worry.