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Would You Ever Want to Have Lower Abilities Than What You Have

Ventus

Mad haters lmao
Joined
May 26, 2010
Location
Akkala
Gender
Hylian Champion
I was having a chat with some good buddies Xyphon and Zorth when the subject of looking up to folks came up. I was trying to pull an emo stunt thing because Xy was talking about how he doesn't believe himself to be better than anyone, and blah.

Anywho the point of this is, would you want to have your abilities lowered than what they are. So say you're really good at math and have done Calculus in 9th grade or some shizzle. Would you ever want to be "dumbed down" to a pre algebra class and have to struggle in that class? Or maybe you're a good drawer but then you lose all skill and your talent disappears. Would you consider being lesser than others to be a big deal, or would you chock it up to life? soz for the depressing
 

Nicole

luke is my wife
Joined
Apr 9, 2010
Location
NJ
Honestly I don't know why anyone would wish to have lower abilities than they do. I know for sure I never would. I've worked too hard both in school and sports to lose what little advantage I have. This applies more athletically than anything else. I'm not a great athlete by any means, but I'm a decent high school basketball player. I've put in a lot of time and effort to be where I am now - way too much time and effort that I would willingly give up. In fact, one of my greatest fears in life is losing the ability to play basketball (i.e. being paralyzed, losing a limb, etc.). I'm not at the level where people would be jealous of my skills, but when I am at that level (because I will be when I'm an upperclassman), I'd never want to be lesser even if my teammates begrudged the level I was at.

I also think my intelligence is probably the greatest gift I have. It's literally my entire future. Sometimes in school I'm moderately embarrassed for excelling, especially when jackass teachers like to announce scores to the class. I used to brag a lot in middle school and just generally be a ******bag about my grades, but I've since tried to tone it down because that's, quite frankly, rude. I am extremely attached to my mental capabilities and despite studies which have shown that being more intelligent makes you more apt to fall prey to being gullible as well as being depressed (pro tip: these studies are true), I'd never want to lose these abilities.

To be honest, I do consider being less than others to be a big deal. I wouldn't say that I have a superiority complex as much as I have an "anti-inferiority complex." That is, I don't need to be better than anyone else. I don't need to be recognized as the "best." What I don't want is to be recognized for being less than somebody else. I know it seems like there's very little difference between the two, but I think there is. I just don't want to be the bottom rung on the ladder, so to speak.

Also, from what I've seen, people who try to downplay their abilities (usually in order to fit in) are generally very unhappy.
 

Turo602

Vocare Ad Pugnam
Joined
Jul 31, 2010
Location
Gotham City
Yes, I do this all the time. I feel like I live in a world made of cardboard. Always taking constant care not break something, to break someone. Never allowing myself to lose control, even for a moment or someone could die. I guess it's what I get for living in such a primitive world.
 

Mellow Ezlo

Spoony Bard
Joined
Dec 2, 2012
Location
eh?
Gender
Slothkin
To me, it makes no sense to try and downgrade ones abilities. I don't really have a lot in terms of skills, since the only things I am actually good at are my two major passions (music and skiing). However, if I were to lose those abilities, it would kind of suck. I am looked up to in my band class because of my skill, and I wouldn't want to lose that. I'm not saying that I absolutely have to be at the top of everything, but I don't want to be at the bottom. In fact, if I wasn't the top band student of the year, I really don't think I would care. I have always been one of the top band students, but I never dreamed of being at the top. Now that I'm there though, I wouldn't want to lose it. I feel like I worked much too hard to let that all go to waste. But that being said, it certainly wouldn't bother me if I don't get the top student again next year, because just being being considered means a hell of a lot more to me than winning.
 

Salem

SICK
Joined
May 18, 2013
Sometimes I wish I don't look at a every little detail, because when some thing is off, no matter what small it is, it bothers me.

Also wish I don't just randomly look up every little thing i come across online because it just takes too much time away and I don't always feel like I learned much and I tend to forget these things so I rarely share with other.

I noticed that all of these things require more self-restrain rather than lower abilities.
 

CynicalSquid

Swag Master General
Joined
Aug 1, 2012
Location
The End
Gender
Apache Helicopter
I'm not skillful in the first place so I wouldn't want to be dumbed down. My abilities are mediocre at best so I actually wish I could strengthen my abilities. I understand why other people might want to have lower abilities though. Some people are really good at some things so It's understandable that they would want more of a challenge. If I was the master at something I'd get bored after a while because it doesn't have any challenge anymore. It's just a chore then. If I did have any skills though, I would probably want then to be dumbed down if I was really skillful, but if it was just a normal form of skill I wouldn't mind it.
 

Beauts

Rock and roll will never die
Joined
Jun 15, 2012
Location
London, United Kingdom
I've never wanted to dumb myself down. I know people who have done so I can understand- like forced themselves to not do well at something because they don't want to be ridiculed or seen as uncool, because they set a lot of store by those kinds of things, but personally I never placed any value in that. I was always one of those G&T kids and never regretted being good at things, but sometimes I do wish I was good at different stuff- instead of being good at writing, I'd like to be good at art. But maybe that's because more people appreciate art than they do the written word. Which is kind of sad, but that's the nature of the game I suppose. In an ideal world I'd be good at everything but nobody is good at everything, and some people are average at everything that would love to be really good at one thing instead, so I don't suppose I can complain.
 
Joined
Jan 1, 2011
As much as I hate myself, I cannot bring forth of me being lesser of what I am. Going out and giving it my all /regardless/ of what it was, I still do my best. Finding something /you/ are good at should make you more capable of doing more things. I went from doing grand in sports, to start honing my skills in art, to learning how to write more.

The qualities that I have make me who I am, I wouldn't change it for anything.
 

*M i d n a*

Æsir Scribe
Joined
Aug 18, 2009
Location
*Midgard*
Gender
Entity
I love my abilities. Lowering them down doesn't seem like a good idea to me, so no, I definitely would never want my abilities to go down.
 

ILU

i luv u
Joined
Dec 17, 2011
Seeing that I don't have any great abilities, I think being "dumbed down" to a skill level less than I already have would make me absolutely worthless. I can't do much, but the few things I do well (like cooking) allow me to assume certain roles within my family. If I were to lose that, then I'd just be a burden.

I do know somebody who is extremely bright, and they wished they weren't as smart as they are. In fact, they stopped working on their vocabulary and dumbed down their speech because people would mock them or complain that they couldn't understand the "big words" he was using. I feel bad for the guy. I can't imagine being like that, but I know some have it that way. :/
 

Sydney

The Good Samaritan
Joined
Mar 20, 2012
Location
Canberra, Australia
Why would anyone want to have lower abilities than what they already have? What would they achieve by doing that? The only thing they'd gain -- rather lose -- are some of the qualities that help shape who they are. What would an artist do with themselves if they couldn't draw, paint, sing, write, or preform? What would an academic do with themselves if all they received were poor grades? What would an athlete do with themselves if they played poorly during each and every game they played? They really couldn't do anything with themselves, now could they? Opportunities that they've tried to acquire for so long would be gone, and they'd be in ruin.

I, myself, would never like my abilities to be any lower than what they are now. Perhaps higher, but never lower. I like who I am, but I know that I can always be better. Why would I want to be worse? All of my talent would be gone, and the education I'm receiving would be worthless. Aside from that, I'm not entirely sure I understand the logic behind dumbing yourself down in order to fit in, but oh well.
 
Joined
Apr 16, 2010
Sometimes I'd like to be stupid so I could go through school without 5 hours of homework every night, but at the end of the day I'd rather be smart than a *******.
 
Joined
Jul 1, 2013
It's hard for me to even think about it, because I'm literally obsessed with trying to be the best at every single thing I do (which of course I never will be). Perhaps life would be more enjoyable without that?
 

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