CVI.

Be Stupid, Diesel says, in big block letters all over the subway campaigns.

A little more investigation yields a manifesto:

Smart critiques.
Stupid creates.

The fact is
if we didnt have stupid thoughts
we’d have no interesting thoughts at all

…

To be stupid
is to be brave

Stupid isn’t afraid to fail.

The point is valid; some parts of our society, some authorities, expect everyone to make safe choices, to conform. The creative people who take risks, break unwritten rules, and come up with brilliant new ideas: I respect them. We stick labels on things, stupid, smart. I get it.

But then, why give these things new labels, as though that changes anything? Turning “smart” and “stupid” on their heads seems a little obvious… ooh, rebellion against authority! People in their underwear, climbing fences, flashing security cameras. A little who cares? and a lot of that’s what you meant by creative?

And all this to sell jeans.

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