Dumb Yourself Down

I am dumbing myself down even as I write this post. Right now. It's not easy, and my brain probably hates me for it but in the past few years of my life, dumbing myself down consciously has been one of the best decisions I have ever made.

I used to be more genuine in school. I would speak impeccable English, vocalise my ideas and thoughts using what lay people would call 'technical jargon' (even though it was just a higher form of English. That's it) and I would basically be a typical little smart kid who Obviously had a 150+ IQ.
It didn't make me a hit. Sure, I was popular. People would come to me for help all the time. I was great and yes, a couple of people even loved me. But I was putting off a whole load of other people.

Enter: Dumbing Down to get to their level.

I (think I) lost a lot of brain power by doing this. Earlier I could (because I was habituated to it) whip up statistics and quotes and even stock market prices straight off memory. I knew every flag and every country and every capital, along with the country's stock exchanges and their best tennis players. I knew way more than the average person and my brain was much faster too. But compared to the amount of peers and even unknown people I was alienating, the brain power was not that useful after all.

If your 'showing off' is causing others to distance themselves from you, what is the point of showing off? Showing off only makes sense when there is someone to show off to. Notice I put 'Showing off' in quotes? It's because more often than not, the ones who are 'showing off' don't even want to, or realise they are doing it. It's a term that the average other people think when they encounter someone like that. They're not necessarily trying to be better or dramatic, they just might be that way to begin with.

By curbing your innate desire to be yourself and throw your intelligence in people's faces (believe it or not but that is how they look at you.) everyone automatically becomes more receptive towards you.

Popularity and Fame.

Those two words are the bane of all normal and average people and the veritable pride of the popular and famous ones. After all, if you're not famous no one knows you, no one cares about you. And you're just a big nobody.

It's so counter intuitive because in effect: You are the one who influence your popularity. You have definitely seen at least one big moron who had the brain of a tapeworm and the looks and personality of a camel climb up the popularity ladder like a bloody effective monkey. And obviously totally hated him/her for it. How did He get so much attention? You probably asked. God! Even my old cat is less hissy than that female! Why is she so popular?

Ah, well, there, you just asked the right question. These people are popular because they want to be.
Not so simple, and don't decide anything yet. It takes a lot of conviction to believe you are something. (Or very little brain power. But that is not the point) I have been popular most of my life, from school, to extended school, to now college. I am not tooting my own horn here but just giving you some background. Believe me when I say Popularity does not Only depend on you. I never Decided to be popular or looked up to. It just happened naturally. And when I came to college (worlds apart from school and second school) my habits (of sort of being famous) as well as my personality helped me along quite a bit. I also took a conscious decision to lie low for a while (considering a Lot of people took me to be a bratty bitchy girl just by my looks. I was shocked. And disappointed. But all that is a story for later) So although I am famous in college. I'm not as famous as I am used to being. People know me without my knowing them, but its a big college and big campus. A lot of people, so very few people can be truly popular.

Although, I have seen a couple of Those types of people. The ones you would wonder about, who are they? And why on earth are they so known?

... Those people are Nobody. Literally Nobodies. Everyone hates them, the only friends they seem to have are the 'Popular Gang', and everyone just really ignores them. I do not get the dynamics, I admit, but everyone tells me that the Popular Gang is popular.

And I call bullshit. They are Not popular. Or famous. Or great. Or even worth mentioning. They are just a bunch of kids who have taken it in their heads that they are The Gang of the college.

That is it.

That is taking Faking it till you make it to a wholly new level.
 

And believe me, you can do it too.

How To Be Popular (Regular Edition):

•  Keep saying and behaving as if you are The Person around. 
• Demand respect from people. 
• Be obnoxious (optional actually, but it helps since everyone already assumes famous people are obnoxious, so it reduces to some form of reverse psychology) 
• Forget people's names on purpose (this gives the wonderful effect of more people knowing you and you truly knowing fewer people. Cementing the popularity again since even people you 'don't' know, know you) 
• Act as if you were born a class above other people, as if you have some entitlement they don't and which automatically puts you above the average people.
• Ignore everyone around you, especially people on the road, those you know, classmates and teachers, co-workers in the office, even others who have positions above yours.

Doing all this isn't too hard. It also helps if you can get a bunch of your friends to do this, thus creating the Popular Gang.

I can't guarantee you will be liked though, but this is the basis for most people's popularity.
 

If you are willing, you could also go the hard way (more roundabout but definitely more self pleasing) 

How To Be Popular (Real Edition) :

• Get to know more people. Throw away your shyness and say a hello to every (almost) person who you cross paths with. 
• Learn the names of as many people as possible and make sure you are nice and friendly with everyone. 
• You do not need to be exceptionally good at anything. You can be perfectly average (heck, even below average) in the looks department, or in studies, work, public speaking, hobbies, even making friends. 
• All you need to do is talk to a lot of people, be nice to them, make it a point to remember basic details about them. 
• Importantly: And pay attention here: Be Nice to Everyone. Be kind, courteous and generous.
• Offer to help people, or if you can't directly help them, get someone else to. 
• Treat everyone with respect, everyone from the waiter to your classmates to your boss. Everyone.
• If you see someone you know and he's walking with someone you don't - make it a point to stop and talk to both of them. The one you know will feel good that you stopped and chatted, and the one you don't will feel even better that you spoke to him too even though you only knew his friend. 
• Make as many connections as possible: then those connections will get you even more. 
• Soon even people you don't know will be stopping and saying, 'Oh yes I know you. You're my ex classmates hostel mate!'

Just remember. Popularity can come easy or tough. It depends on you whether you want to have the kind that comes from being an attention whore or the genuine kind where everyone likes and loves you back.