Smart people will think your idea is stupid

#1

Post by davemel37 » Sun, May 11, 2014, 4:23 PM UTC

When the printing press was invented 93% of the population was illiterate.

The first guy to own a fax machine, what did he do with it?

Smart people will look at the world around them and think your idea has no place in the world. They will discourage you and insist your idea is stupid. Maybe even they are right...for today at least.

What about tomorrow?

Want to know if your idea is worth pursuing? If you believe in it enough to ignore the smart people. If you believe enough to work on a stupid idea for the slight chance of making something great...

Go, Do Something Stupid! Invent the printing press. Change the world.

-adapted from Seth Godin speech at Authority Intensive 2014.

Re: Smart people will think your idea is stupid

#2

Post by sidcool » Sun, May 11, 2014, 5:35 PM UTC

I agree, smart people do tend to have a negative outlook of ideas that originate from sources they tend to underestimate. But I would warn against a gross generalization.

Re: Smart people will think your idea is stupid

#3

Post by TempleOSV207 » Sun, May 11, 2014, 6:03 PM UTC

I made God's temple.

If He wills, it's done.

Re: Smart people will think your idea is stupid

#4

Post by Cael » Sun, May 11, 2014, 6:09 PM UTC

While it's certainly possible for smart people to be wrong and for a "stupid" idea to work out great, this seems more faux-inspirational to me than anything else. Genuinely smart people tend to have very good reasons for believing your idea might not work, and to just entirely disregard the thoughts of all people who think your idea won't work seems counter-productive. That's not to say they can't be completely wrong though, but so can you.

Re: Smart people will think your idea is stupid

#5

Post by Terr_ » Sun, May 11, 2014, 6:18 PM UTC

I still think Twitter is stupid/vapid...

Re: Smart people will think your idea is stupid

#6

Post by davemel37 » Sun, May 11, 2014, 6:23 PM UTC

Cael wrote: post #4

While it's certainly possible for smart people to be wrong and for a "stupid" idea to work out great, this seems more faux-inspirational to me than anything else. Genuinely smart people tend to have very good reasons for believing your idea might not work, and to just entirely disregard the thoughts of all people who think your idea won't work seems counter-productive. That's not to say they can't be completely wrong…

I think the point is less about whether your idea is smart or stupid... that detail is irrelevant.

What is important? Action is important.

You are better off pursuing a stupid idea than not pursuing any ideas.

Re: Smart people will think your idea is stupid

#7

Post by clubhi » Sun, May 11, 2014, 6:26 PM UTC

Stupid people will also think your idea is stupid. First to market is extremely overrated. You don't even need an original idea. Proper execution and luck are what you need.

Re: Smart people will think your idea is stupid

#8

Post by watwut » Sun, May 11, 2014, 6:41 PM UTC

davemel37 wrote: post #6

Cael wrote: post #4

While it's certainly possible for smart people to be wrong and for a "stupid" idea to work out great, this seems more faux-inspirational to me than anything else. Genuinely smart people tend to have very good reasons for believing your idea might not work, and to just entirely disregard the thoughts of all people who think your idea won't work seems counter-productive. That's not to say they can't be completely wrong…

I think the point is less about whether your idea is smart or stupid... that detail is irrelevant. What is important? Action is important. You are better off pursuing a stupid idea than not pursuing any ideas.

"You are better off pursuing a stupid idea than not pursuing any ideas."

How much does it cost to pursue that bad idea? If it is for free, then you are right. If it costs to pursue that idea, then you might have been better off pursuing nothing.

Re: Smart people will think your idea is stupid

#9

Post by watwut » Sun, May 11, 2014, 6:57 PM UTC

"When the printing press was invented 93% of the population was illiterate."

Assuming Seth Godin meant Gutenberg: Printing press was invented at the time when demand for books was raising and old methods were not sufficient anymore. Gutenberg was in printing business at the time of his invention.

Also, Gutenberg was financially unsuccessful.

"The first guy to own a fax machine, what did he do with it?"

Just a guess: He probably brought multiple of them and used them to fax documents within his own company. That would be useful and I can see market for that.

They were trying to create functional fax machine for years before succeeding, so there must have been something apparently useful about it.

Re: Smart people will think your idea is stupid

#10

Post by davemel37 » Sun, May 11, 2014, 7:05 PM UTC

watwut wrote: post #8

davemel37 wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the point is less about whether your idea is smart or stupid... that detail is irrelevant. What is important? Action is important. You are better off pursuing a stupid idea than not pursuing any ideas.

"You are better off pursuing a stupid idea than not pursuing any ideas." How much does it cost to pursue that bad idea? If it is for free, then you are right. If it costs to pursue that idea, then you might have been better off pursuing nothing.

if by cost you mean the potential gain minus the potential loss, than you might be right.

However, if you mean cost without factoring the potential gain from failing (and ignoring benefits like "an object in motion tends to stay in motion") than I would have to disagree.

You are much better off taking action on a bad idea than guaranteeing failure by never taking action.