The ability to speak does not make you intelligent
A lesson from Hamilton, Godzilla & House of the Dragon on loose tongues
When I think of Daemon Targaryen I think passion, anger, violence, sex and angst. As such, I was pleasantly surprised by the moody Daemon Targaryen in this week’s episode of The House of The Dragon (HBO) where the once self-declared King of the Stepstones exhibited a visible degree of self-control. Here’s a brief takeaway from episode 7, “Driftmark” that you should think about as you begin the week.
“Silence is a lesson learned through life’s many sufferings” - Seneca, 55 AD
The young Aemond Targaryen had just returned from taming the largest dragon in the realm, and his cousins were not amused. After Baela and Rhaena claim Aemond “stole” the dragon, the cadre of cousins all brawl (rather savagely) and Aemond loses his eye to a a blade concealed by Jade.
Next, the furious parents gather in the hall to argue, shout, defame and insult one another. All of the resentment and suspicion in the family is boiling over.
You’ve heard groups argue. It’s a bunch of squealing. Often no one wins.
King Viserys is a good man, but totally powerless even in his anger to calm things down. “This interminable infighting must cease, all of you!” he screams at the feuding relatives and mutilated children “We’re a family! Make your apologies and show good will to one another.”
Nope. They continue on.
Everyone in this room is embarrassing themselves (Rhaenyra peddling the blatant lie about her sons’ parentage), shaming others and disgracing their interconnected family.
All save one person, who has committed zero slander, told no lies and not embarrassed themself in this fray. That would be Daemon Targaryen.
“Better to trip with the feet than with the tongue,” once said Zeno of Citium in roughly 300 BC. So powerful is the temptation to join in debate, to weigh in on the discourse of the day or spout off your half-formed thoughts over drinks with friends. Damned is that “Tweet” button, begging you to respond to a trending topic and share your hot take, however stupid or enlightening. You’re being nudged to squawk like a tiny bird. And for what?
And amidst all the chaos of this new episode of The House of the Dragon, you really notice Daemon standing there in the corner, eyebrows arched and arms crossed. He is watching. Logging vulnerabilities. Choosing his side or his angle. You may think sometimes that your rival is the person you most often spar with out in the open, but it may well be that the real danger to you is the person watching your every move and taking notes.
Discretion got a bad rap from the Hamilton broadway musical which portrayed talking less as related to cowardice or inauthenticity. Aaron Burr told Alexander Hamilton again and again to chill with the moralizing and running his mouth. “Don’t let them know what you’re against or what you’re for,” said Burr. It does make him look bad and like a serpent politician. But you know what? Hamilton is the one who ends up as road kill.
My favorite Jedi Master from Star Wars, Qui-Gon Jinn, said in Episode I: The Phantom Menace, “The ability to speak does not make you intelligent.” Consider the most devious of advisors and ladder climbers, like Little Finger from the original Game of Thrones. These individuals choose their words with extreme delicacy, and their timing with even more.
“Let them fight” is Godzilla’s greatest meme contribution to the culture. The idea is simple. Stand back and let beasts fight. You then move in to clean up and hopefully be the last one standing.
You don’t have to have an opinion about thing x, y or z.
You don’t have to speak up in every staff meeting or contribute to the conversation with buzz words and corporate platitudes.
You don’t have to send that Tweet.
Sometimes, you can just keep your mouth shut. It’s harder to do than speaking empty words.
This is the way.
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He that hath knowledge spareth his words: And a man of understanding is of an excellent spirit. Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise: And he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding.
Its profound how hard being a pundit for a few years had made this for me lol. Something I have to work on all the time.