Elshadai Aberra | Managing Editor

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I understand that today marks the glorious Hallmark holiday that is Valentine’s Day, which is meant to celebrate love, but bare with me as I (kind of) rant.

The thing that bothers me the most in this world is the romanticism of stupidity. I simply do not understand why it is considered “cute” to ask someone a question, or why someone should be more attracted to you because you “didn’t know the answer to #7.”

The first time I formed an opinion on this was when I first watched the film “Mean Girls.” I had been around 10 years old and the scene in which Cady purposefully failed her math test always confused me.

“Why would someone ever choose to fail on purpose?” little Elshadai wondered. Little Elshadai proceeded to get even more confused as Cady continued to act stupid and ask Aaron for help with math problems she already knew how to solve. I simply couldn’t get it through my head why such an intelligent, amazing girl from South Africa would act so stupid and dimwitted for the love of one boy when she could have received it being herself.

To be frank, I still do not understand it. If you are smart, flaunt it. Significant others are called significant others because they are significant, not because they are photocopies of idiots.

I fully understand that asking someone for help with something they know can boost their self-esteem, thus making them happier. I myself have been in those shoes, though it has backfired at times as I do not know everything. However, the times I did know the answer to the other person’s questions I instantly felt better about myself. I felt humble, I felt superior, and I felt like a genius. But I also felt bad for the other person and questioned why they would ask me such a question, especially when I knew that they knew the answer. It caused me to question their intelligence and their character.

So, my questions for the person reading this are the following: to what extent do you diminish your own character so another person may uplift their own? To what extent do you encourage someone to think that you are stupid so that they may feel like a genius?

My answer is to no extent. Be yourself. If you sincerely do not know the answer to something, ask it, but not at the hands of someone else’s self-esteem.

One should not feel the need to alter their intelligence so that someone else may like them. It doesn’t work that way. Love doesn’t work that way. If you want to grab the attention of someone, use your intelligence. Show them that you are smart. You won’t get the job if you act stupid at the job interview, so how do you expect to receive someone’s respect by acting stupid solely for their confidence, diminishing your own?

Long story short, everyone needs to tell their crush the answer to #7 on the math homework rather than ask for it, because intelligence is attractive; not stupidity.