Stupid vs Ignorant

According to an online dictionary, stupid means: 1. lacking ordinary quickness and keenness of mind; dull. 2.characterized by or proceeding from mental dullness; foolish; senseless: a stupid question. 3.tediously dull, especially due to lack of meaning or sense; inane; pointless: a stupid party. 4. annoying or irritating; troublesome: Turn off that stupid radio. 5. in a state of stupor; stupefied: stupid from fatigue.

On the other hand, ignorant is defined as: 1. lacking in knowledge or training; unlearned: an ignorant man. 2. lacking knowledge or information as to a particular subject or fact: ignorant of quantum physics. 3. uninformed; unaware. 4. due to or showing lack of knowledge or training: an ignorant statement.

I believe I am both!  In the last few years, MS has greatly affected my ability to learn and/or use the knowledge that I have.  I have noticed this especially in the last couple of days.

My husband finally talked me into getting a new modem with Windows 7.  I was really excited about this as my Windows XP was no longer supported by online help and troubleshooting.  Since, as I have stated many times, I have enough knowledge to do a few things with computers, but not enough to figure things out when something is going wrong, I was anxious to be able to go online and hopefully get help in these situations.

I have been excited and scared about this change.  I am a person who loves learning and trying new things. But with the progression of my MS, this is not always possible.  Things “don’t compute” as they should and I often have trouble trying to get things to work.  This makes me very frustrated and stressed, which also aggravates my MS.  Needless to say, my MS has really flared up with the arrival of my new computer!

Although most things I have tried on this machine are working as they should, there are some things that I cannot seem to figure out.  Take my email, for instance.  On my old computer, all my email accounts were integrated into IncrediMail with no problems.  I cannot get the accounts to work on this machine no matter what I do.  I have scoured the internet looking for help with this and everything I try does not help.  This leaves me with a lot of stress and frustration.

I have felt both stupid and ignorant in this struggle to sort things out.  I have felt stupid because my thinking is dull and my brain often in a stupor; I have felt ignorant because I know that I am unlearned and unaware of much computer knowledge that would sort these problems out easily.  I am not sure which feeling gives me the most grief!

But, all in all, I am very happy with my computer.  Although I have much to learn about it, and many new things to try with it, it is still a joy to me and a way to feel useful.  Besides, there are always games to play and my Facebook and MS families to keep in contact with……….life is still so very good!!! J