I dress poorly because I don’t know anything about the fashion world.
Of course I’m being disingenuous: I actually know that I’m currently not current, but there is a certain kind prestige in feigning ignorance.
You know what I’m talking about: When I claim I don’t pay attention to style, I’m really saying, “I’m better than the people who do.”
It’s the same when a lifelong Chicagoan says, “I don’t know anything about the country.” She is really saying, “My world is too sophisticated to extend past the Gold Coast.”
Mispronouncing Rodeo Drive or Houston street is a marker of ignorance, but what if someone came here and said Grand Detour instead of Grandy-tour? Feigning ignorance on certain topics is really just another form of snobbery.
Recently I started a conversation with a colleague by saying something about Jay Cutler. “I don’t follow sports,” was his reply. Not “I don’t like the Bears,” or “I’m not a football fan,” but “I don’t follow sports,” which not only effectively shuts down a conversation but lets me know I’ve been judged as well.
That same impulse causes your “friends” on Facebook to take the time to comment that they don’t understand something instead just ignoring your post.
It’s easier to google a term than to type, “I don’t understand this,” but the point isn’t to get the explanation; it’s to inform you that they’re superior because they don’t spend their days worrying about what Taylor Swift said about Nikki Minaj. And you do.
People with mal-intention have always obfuscated their meanings behind a lot of verbal trickery … but I wouldn’t know anything about that.
I’m Dan Libman, and that’s my perspective.
