Throughout history, geniuses have been honored and glorified. Leonardo Da Vinci, Beethoven, Shakespeare, Katherine Johnson, Vincent Van Gogh and Albert Einstein are just a few of the most famous people in history known for being intelligent.

But, have you ever heard of someone being famous in history for being dumb? No, not likely.

People in today’s generation view others who are smart as a “nerd” or a “geek.” These stereotypes follow people throughout their life. And for some reason, these stereotypes are very negatively connotated. These characteristics should be accepted as envious. Being a “nerd” means that you care enough to learn more about the world around you. There is nothing wrong with being interested in something and wanting to learn more about it.

Many high schoolers hope to avoid this stereotype by pretending to be dumb, to put a sign in front of their face that says “I’m funny!” These people aren’t dumb, most of them are actually really smart but hope to get a laugh or two.

The reasons someone may have for portraying themselves as dumb is plentiful, but most of them stem around being popular or gaining a better reputation. This is ironic because those who attempt to pursue a more knowledgable life will be better off in their futures compared to those who do not. But, how was this theory first created? A lot of it happens in television and in movies. For example, in the movie, “The Duff,” the popular girl is also the dumbest in the movie. Throughout the movie, the lead girl trains in order to improve her social status, only to realize in the end that she likes herself the way she is. That’s only one example. There are an abundance of movies and shows in which the most popular one in the school, despite often being the cruelest, is by far the dumbest.

Teenagers over look the overall theme of the movie that those who are popular are often not popular by the end of the movie. Instead they focus on the ways that popularity was achieved. “If she was dumb, I need to be dumb too.”

I do not understand the humor in someone purposely trying to portray themselves as unintelligent in order to reach a social status. They are not funny at all, in fact they are pretty obnoxious. When will people start understanding that ‘dumb’ and ‘popular’ are not synonymous?

Teenagers today need to stop obsessing on social status and stop worrying about what others think of them. Everyone wants to conform to a specific way in order to be popular or funny. Instead, people should try to be themselves. If people aren’t happy with themselves, they should try to envision a better version of themselves and try to achieve that. Don’t sell yourself short of what you can do in order to gain a few followers on social media. Make a goal to make yourself a better person and you’ll find yourself being much happier than if you were to change yourself in a negative way.

If achieving a specific social status requires you to change yourself, is it even worth it? Achieving a social status doesn’t have to be a bad thing, as long as you stay true to yourself and focus on becoming a better individual and not just in copying someone else.