Incompetent people. Competent people

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In social life, there is a phenomenon that we don’t encounter but which actually exists widely – a large number of people sometimes shout/laugh/yell loudly; sometimes sing at high volumes; sometimes cry loudly; and sometimes even break pots and bowls. Incapable people, unable to bear certain unpleasant realities, end up shouting and cursing in their own private world. Why does this kind of ranting take place only in one’s own private world? Because when others are around, if he expresses himself in such a way, he will face retaliation from them, and thus fail to achieve his goal of being crazy. When crying, shouting, and yelling loudly, he expresses his anger toward nature. In the instinctive, patterned thinking of those who are incompetent, nature is seen as a person, as someone who has been conquered by them; they feel extremely powerful at such times, and feel much more relaxed compared to their usual restraint, timidity, and silence. This is exactly similar to the bold and unrestrained behavior of capable people in normal circumstances. So, he came to appreciate the merits of those capable people whom he had greatly envied. This made him more and more mad and arrogant, even more reckless, giving the impression that this madness would never end; yet he found joy amidst all this madness. What kind of madness is it for a capable person to remain without joy for such a long time? There is a passage that says: “The ancient Roman emperor Nero could be said to possess unparalleled wealth and status, but was he happy? His riches and prestige only fueled his animalistic instincts, leading him to kill his own mother and teachers; he even went so far as to burn down Rome. In the end, abandoned by everyone, he had no choice but to commit suicide.” From his wealth, it’s easy to see that his initial intention in accumulating wealth was to use it for pleasure and enjoyment. But over time, these sensory pleasures lost their novelty and became boring. What accompanied this boredom were the dullness and frustrations of life; his heart grew increasingly troubled, filled with endless grievances. He finally couldn’t bear it any longer! Like a mad rhinoceros, he cried out, laughed, and cursed, turning to heaven to complain about his miserable fate. He truly suffered from a lack of spiritual fulfillment, which led to his tragic end—abandoned by all and forced to commit suicide. Otherwise, without any spiritual joy, he would have ended up as a fool. It’s clear then that the torment of lacking spiritual joy is extremely cruel; anyone in such a situation would be driven to despair, crying out and lamenting, hoping instinctively that the gods would rescue them from this spiritual suffering. In the end, disappointed, they would curse and laugh wildly. Whether Nero was capable or not is something that others can judge. But his madness while on the throne was similar to that of capable people. Such madness brought him no joy at all—because the madness of those who are incompetent is merely an attempt to understand what capable people experience, whereas capable people, by definition, are able to find joy; their madness is just an expression of sorrow, not a source of happiness.