The Way We Think Now

Generally speaking, thinking is an activity I try to avoid if I can help it, but every now and then I’ll come across something that really gets the brain cells quivering. My most recent brain-tingler is the book I’m reading, Tickling the English by Irish comedian Dara O’Briain. It’s hilarious. In case you haven’t read it (and I recommend you do), it presents a wittily insightful view of the British from someone who’s not. He asks probing questions like ‘Why do the English pretend to be unhappy all the time?’ and notices things like the fact that we Brits have the worst view of ourselves, even though – surprisingly enough – we’re really not pants at everything.

As far as I know, we’ve always thought of ourselves as losers. And this mentality is ingrained in us from the time we’re tiddlers running around in our underpants. Even at school, I remember my Latin teacher giving us vocab. tests with cheerful titles like ‘England Hasn’t Got a Hope in Hell’ or, a worryingly common one, ‘You’re All Going To Fail.’ No wonder we think we suck. The Americans, however - and as we all know, never think this way. They’re blissfully unaware of the fact that only they think they’re cool! Annoying as this may be for the rest of world, perhaps there’s something in this unshakeable self-belief stuff. Maybe if we start thinking we’re good at something, we might possibly be good. Hmmm...