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The Dunce

Jeevan Sivasubramaniam Posted by Jeevan Sivasubramaniam, Managing Director, Editorial, Berrett-Koehler Publishers Inc.




There was one teacher at a small school who was particularly well known for belittling his students.

One morning, the teacher marched into the classroom filled with students and bellowed, "I think there are many idiots in this class. In fact, I would like any idiots in the class to stand up right now and identify themselves. They will automatically get a bump in their grades for at least knowing that they're idiots!"

No one stood up.

The teacher yelled even louder as he marched up and down the length of the classroom, "Come on there have got to be some idiots in here!"

Finally, one student stood up.

"Ah, good!" said the teacher. "I see that you are confessing to be an idiot, correct?"

The student responded, "Well, not really sir, but I thought you may be lonely because you're the only one standing."

Moral of the Story: Never assume that you're the smartest person in the room.

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