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Your brain does this automatically. Without even realizing it, you've subconsciously placed everyone in their place in your head—you've built an imaginary line of people stretching to the horizon, where everyone occupies their place based on their level of intelligence relative to you.

You stand at your position in this line. Every person you meet is assigned a place in it. Those in front are "smarter." Those behind are "stupider." This isn't the ultimate truth; it's relevant only to your interactions with them.

And here's the hardest thing to grasp: you can't move people up YOUR queue. That person you think is stupid? You can't teach them to be smarter than you. You can't "fix" them. You can't explain things so clearly that they suddenly move up in your rankings. They're up there based on how your brain interacts with theirs.

This queue is fixed relative to you.

But—and this is crucial—that same person also exists in everyone else's queues. And in their best friend's queue? There, they might be way ahead of everyone else. The person you considered "stupid" might be the most brilliant person in someone else's world.

So, when you're tempted to "correct" or "teach some sense" to someone behind you in line, remember: you're not measuring universal intelligence. You're measuring their position relative to YOUR reference point. And that measurement has nothing to do with their position in anyone else's line.

You can't correct the people behind you. And you don't need to, because they're not "behind" in the eyes of the world—they're just behind in your perception.

The driver who cut you off? You won't correct him by honking louder.

There are stupid people everywhere and that will never change.

You can't change them. You can't educate them. You can't make them listen to reason. You can't make them admit they're wrong.

And more importantly, you don't get graded on how many fools you set straight.

There's no teacher looking at your life and thinking, "Wow, look how effective he is at putting idiots in their place. A+!"

Let them make mistakes. Let them cut you off. Let them talk nonsense in the stadium stands. Let them have fun. Let them be stupid on the internet. Let them be delusional without making it your problem.