Short Witted

Wit. Love it or hate it, women are impressed by it. In other words it is here to stay. Sadly, those who have any semblance of wit are a minority. People fill their conversations with shrugs, broken eye contact, forced chuckles, awkward gestures, sighs, and the oblivious filler words that we (myself included) know all too well for their constant use. Wit is such an ignored quality that when we see someone with it we label them as a genius. Little do we know all it takes are small efforts of analyzing our topics and our speech. Though I would like to pay attention to another aspect of wit. There are also those who want to achieve wit, but fail in doing so and end up being jerks and/or dorks. They have noticed the praise that the truly witty receive and what more incentive do you need? Praise from your fellow man is valuable to us at least and it would seem that this is the quickest and easiest way to be praised. Although I said before it is easier than we think to those who have not, for the those who covet and have not it is harder than they think. So what does the dictionary (to save time) say what wit is?

Wit - the keen perception and cleverly apt expression of those connections between ideas that awaken amusement and pleasure.

Wit could in fact be described as a service to others. It is the new previously untended gift of perception that pleases the hearers more than anything said before. It separates itself from all other comments because before it had gone unnoticed. Most people cherish the witty because of the joy they bring to the social circumstance. They did not only do it for themselves, but for others as well.

The first mistake that many make is just desiring the praise alone. They have no other motive than to benefit themselves. Common problems could be where the person says something smart at the expense of others. These are the people we tell to hold their tongues. Their theory is, "I can lift myself up if I put another down." this may work on some people, but there are moral issues with it that if they are not treated can do some psychological damage to the victim. And so any short comings of their friends is only seen as ammo for the person trying to be witty. Tell them nothing.

There are also another kind of failed wit. Those who quote others wit. Sure, they are educated but it is someone else's perspective they use and proceeded to regurgitate the quote. This is bad in two areas. One: they are never truly witty. Two: They never question the saying. They find that the statement has been printed and published into a book several times over and assume that is all the authority they need. Wit can say some very weighty things so it should not go un-analyzed. The witty statement is designed to help those less capable to carry the conversation. If a man merely repeats the statement it loses all effect. You might as well read aloud Ambrose Beirce's Devils Dictionary. They take no time to figure out whether or not the statement is a falsehood, truth or a truism. People receive a lot of misinformation because of the informal fallacy ipse dixit. Example: Lewis once said, "The world is flat." We all know that it is a lie but say it was still a question and we still had our admiration for Lewis. We would be very quick to believe him.

Wit is fantastic and it is not required to have but how dull would our world be if there was none. It is one of the few things that pick up our days.