Arrogance, The Prime Suspect

[joe1776]

In a previous thread, I argued that, since we think in words, the unnecessary jargon created by psychologists was an obstacle in their search for knowledge. I used arrogance as my prime example.

In this thread, I'll expand on the "arrogance theory," the idea that arrogant behavior satisfies the unconscious need to feel superior to others and that it should be the prime suspect when we search for causes for human failings.

I am not claiming that arrogance can't result in good behavior. I argue that it just isn't likely.

Scientists wisely evaluate the probability of a 'theory' being true by the number of effects it can credibly explain. The most likely to be true are tested first. Here are some of the effects arrogance can credibly explain.

ambition and arrogance In competitive societies, ambition is considered a virtue, but it probably should not be. A strong ambition for wealth, fame, prestige and positions of leadership are common symptoms of an above-average to high-grade need to feel superior to others. It is not enough for us to feel superior; we need to have others act as though they recognize our superiority. We want them to fear us, admire us, envy us or defer to us.

blame and arrogance Highly arrogant people have a hard time accepting the fact that the hand they were dealt at birth wasn't near perfection. So, when things go wrong, shifting the blame to others is routine behavior. Since mothers usually provide most of the care for their children, and since they provide half the genes as well, they make easy targets for blame for arrogant adults when life does not confirm how extraordinary they really are.

bragging and arrogance Our need to feel superior can be satisfied by inflating the impression we make on others. Bragging is a common symptom of arrogance. Arrogant people often make up and tell stories intended to enhance their reputation within their social group. Arrogant people are also likely to take more credit than they deserve for team efforts and claim to be primarily responsible for successes they had little or nothing to do with.

bullying and arrogance The behavior we call bullying is a common kind of arrogant behavior. Bullies feel superior to their victims. Verbal bullies can be ignored but physical bullies must be stopped with the use of force.

competition and arrogance When a nation is attacked by another, it must fight back in order to survive. No one questions their motivation. But what about the aggressor? What moves the leader of the aggressor-nation to incite his followers to draw first blood if not arrogance caused by a strong need to prove themselves superior to their neighbors?

conscience and arrogance Highly arrogant people monopolize conversations and seem to feel that every discussion is all about them. Since our attention can be focused on ourselves or on others, but never on both at the same time, arrogant people can't spend much time concerned with the welfare of others. Thus, they have little time for empathy, and since we would associate a lack of empathy with a weak conscience, high-grade arrogance would be consistent with low-grade moral character.

conservatism and arrogance Humanity has been making moral progress which means that arrogant behavior is waning. There has been a gradual shift away from the attitude that our group is superior to their group to embrace the goal of treating everyone as being equal in human value. The abolition of legal slavery and the movements to give women and homosexuals equal rights are examples of that. Conservative and traditionalist alliances resist such change. Their members do not seem ready to concede that they are not superior to others.

criminal behavior and arrogance It is likely that most perverts do not commit crimes. People who only fantasize about rape are not rapists. People who only fantasize about molesting children are not child molesters. So, to make a safer world, we do not need to find the cause and an effective cure for sexual perversion. We only need to answer the question "What's the difference between people who only fantasize about such crimes and those who actually commit them?” A difference in arrogance levels offers a credible answer to the question. Arrogant-bully sexual perverts commit crimes, less arrogant perverts likely do not.

deceit and arrogance Arrogant people need to see others as inferior. They gloat when they think they have made fools of others. Their behavior can include fraud, hoaxes, practical jokes, high-pressure sales, deceptive advertising, manipulation, or cunning Machiavellian strategies. However, the most common deceitful behavior is lying.

entitlement and arrogance Arrogant people regard themselves as having been born superior to others. And since they were born extraordinary, they feel entitled to ignore the customary rules of conduct meant to govern the behavior of ordinary people. Arrogant people are often infected with greed. They feel entitled to more than a fair share of society's benefits. In order to incite the Second World War in Europe, Adolf Hitler told his German followers that they were members of a master race and thus entitled to take living space away from their neighbors to the east by using force.

equality and arrogance When we behave in a way that will satisfy our unconscious need to feel superior to others, it obviously conflicts with the conscience-driven obligation that we have to treat others as equals. Conscience seems to be winning its battles with arrogance because equality is slowly spreading globally.

group pride and arrogance Group pride, usually regarded as a virtue, is actually disguised arrogance. We know intuitively that the man who is exceptionally proud of being Irish and Catholic would be just as proud if he had, by some twist of fate, been raised to think of himself as German and Lutheran. It's not that he thinks of his groups as wonderful, it's that HE is wonderful and they are HIS groups.

Group pride is one side of the coin; group prejudice is its opposite side. Trouble-making group leaders of gangs, tribes religions or nations have always been able to use group prejudice to incite their followers to attack and bully weaker groups.



I can make many more connections of human behavior which can be classified as arrogance but this OP is already too long.

What do you think about labeling arrogance as a prime suspect when trying to explain human failings?

 

[crossfire]

Dominance hierarchies.

 

[joe1776]

Dominance hierarchies.

What about them?

 

[Heyo]

I am arrogant. I've been raised to be. I've been told "Since you are smarter than your peers, you're supposed not to act stupid.". If you are morally superior, you have to act morally, even if others cheat. If you are privileged in any way, you have to use that privilege to help others. If I'm the superior fencer, I take the blame when I let you hit me. I also take the blame if I hurt you. Being arrogant for me means always to think ahead, or, as Uncle Ben put it:
"With great power comes great responsibility."

 

[crossfire]

Dominance hierarchies.

What about them?

That is what your opening post is describing.

 

[joe1776]

I am arrogant. I've been raised to be. I've been told "Since you are smarter than your peers, you're supposed not to act stupid.". If you are morally superior, you have to act morally, even if others cheat. If you are privileged in any way, you have to use that privilege to help others. If I'm the superior fencer, I take the blame when I let you hit me. I also take the blame if I hurt you. Being arrogant for me means always to think ahead, or, as Uncle Ben put it:
"With great power comes great responsibility."

We need to define arrogance more precisely.

In order to measure something we need a standard. Arrogant people think of themselves as having been born superior in human value when there is no standard for measuring human value.

If your IQ is superior to most people, your superiority in intelligence is a fact. If you think your intelligence makes you superior in human value, and you are unable to think of others as equals in human value, then you are arrogant.

 

[joe1776]

That is what your opening post is describing.

Nope. Don't see it. And I don't think much of the argument for "dominant hierarchies."

 

[Shadow Wolf]

In a previous thread, I argued that, since we think in words, the unnecessary jargon created by psychologists was an obstacle in their search for knowledge. I used arrogance as my prime example.

Or, you don't understand it like so many people who see fancy words, jargon, mumbo jumbo, and impossible to pronounce words when they delve into a field they have little knowledge in.

 

[Heyo]

We need to define arrogance more precisely.

In order to measure something we need a standard. Arrogant people think of themselves as having been born superior in human value when there is no standard for measuring human value.

If your IQ is superior to most people, your superiority in intelligence is a fact. If you think your intelligence makes you superior in human value, and you are unable to think of others as equals in human value, then you are arrogant.

Well, by that definition I'm not arrogant. That doesn't prevent me from being accused of being arrogant. It happens so frequently that I've come to embrace that classification.

 

[joe1776]

Well, by that definition I'm not arrogant. That doesn't prevent me from being accused of being arrogant. It happens so frequently that I've come to embrace that classification.

If you're smarter than most people, and you don't try to hide it, you're going to p---- people off.

 

[Heyo]

If you're smarter than most people, and you don't try to hide it, you're going to p---- people off.

It's not only that. Trying to take the moral high road also gets you "Buzzkill" or "you think you're better than us" comments.

 

[crossfire]

We need to define arrogance more precisely.

In order to measure something we need a standard. Arrogant people think of themselves as having been born superior in human value when there is no standard for measuring human value.

If your IQ is superior to most people, your superiority in intelligence is a fact. If you think your intelligence makes you superior in human value, and you are unable to think of others as equals in human value, then you are arrogant.

Nope. Don't see it. And I don't think much of the argument for "dominant hierarchies."

If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's probably a duck.

 

[joe1776]

If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's probably a duck.

True, but your opinion strikes me as quackery.

 

[crossfire]

True, but your opinion strikes me as quackery.

I love a good pun.

 

[Mock Turtle]

In a previous thread, I argued that, since we think in words, the unnecessary jargon created by psychologists was an obstacle in their search for knowledge. I used arrogance as my prime example.

In this thread, I'll expand on the "arrogance theory," the idea that arrogant behavior satisfies the unconscious need to feel superior to others and that it should be the prime suspect when we search for causes for human failings.

I am not claiming that arrogance can't result in good behavior. I argue that it just isn't likely.

Scientists wisely evaluate the probability of a 'theory' being true by the number of effects it can credibly explain. The most likely to be true are tested first. Here are some of the effects arrogance can credibly explain.

ambition and arrogance In competitive societies, ambition is considered a virtue, but it probably should not be. A strong ambition for wealth, fame, prestige and positions of leadership are common symptoms of an above-average to high-grade need to feel superior to others. It is not enough for us to feel superior; we need to have others act as though they recognize our superiority. We want them to fear us, admire us, envy us or defer to us.

blame and arrogance Highly arrogant people have a hard time accepting the fact that the hand they were dealt at birth wasn't near perfection. So, when things go wrong, shifting the blame to others is routine behavior. Since mothers usually provide most of the care for their children, and since they provide half the genes as well, they make easy targets for blame for arrogant adults when life does not confirm how extraordinary they really are.

bragging and arrogance Our need to feel superior can be satisfied by inflating the impression we make on others. Bragging is a common symptom of arrogance. Arrogant people often make up and tell stories intended to enhance their reputation within their social group. Arrogant people are also likely to take more credit than they deserve for team efforts and claim to be primarily responsible for successes they had little or nothing to do with.

bullying and arrogance The behavior we call bullying is a common kind of arrogant behavior. Bullies feel superior to their victims. Verbal bullies can be ignored but physical bullies must be stopped with the use of force.

competition and arrogance When a nation is attacked by another, it must fight back in order to survive. No one questions their motivation. But what about the aggressor? What moves the leader of the aggressor-nation to incite his followers to draw first blood if not arrogance caused by a strong need to prove themselves superior to their neighbors?

conscience and arrogance Highly arrogant people monopolize conversations and seem to feel that every discussion is all about them. Since our attention can be focused on ourselves or on others, but never on both at the same time, arrogant people can't spend much time concerned with the welfare of others. Thus, they have little time for empathy, and since we would associate a lack of empathy with a weak conscience, high-grade arrogance would be consistent with low-grade moral character.

conservatism and arrogance Humanity has been making moral progress which means that arrogant behavior is waning. There has been a gradual shift away from the attitude that our group is superior to their group to embrace the goal of treating everyone as being equal in human value. The abolition of legal slavery and the movements to give women and homosexuals equal rights are examples of that. Conservative and traditionalist alliances resist such change. Their members do not seem ready to concede that they are not superior to others.

criminal behavior and arrogance It is likely that most perverts do not commit crimes. People who only fantasize about rape are not rapists. People who only fantasize about molesting children are not child molesters. So, to make a safer world, we do not need to find the cause and an effective cure for sexual perversion. We only need to answer the question "What's the difference between people who only fantasize about such crimes and those who actually commit them?” A difference in arrogance levels offers a credible answer to the question. Arrogant-bully sexual perverts commit crimes, less arrogant perverts likely do not.

deceit and arrogance Arrogant people need to see others as inferior. They gloat when they think they have made fools of others. Their behavior can include fraud, hoaxes, practical jokes, high-pressure sales, deceptive advertising, manipulation, or cunning Machiavellian strategies. However, the most common deceitful behavior is lying.

entitlement and arrogance Arrogant people regard themselves as having been born superior to others. And since they were born extraordinary, they feel entitled to ignore the customary rules of conduct meant to govern the behavior of ordinary people. Arrogant people are often infected with greed. They feel entitled to more than a fair share of society's benefits. In order to incite the Second World War in Europe, Adolf Hitler told his German followers that they were members of a master race and thus entitled to take living space away from their neighbors to the east by using force.

equality and arrogance When we behave in a way that will satisfy our unconscious need to feel superior to others, it obviously conflicts with the conscience-driven obligation that we have to treat others as equals. Conscience seems to be winning its battles with arrogance because equality is slowly spreading globally.

group pride and arrogance Group pride, usually regarded as a virtue, is actually disguised arrogance. We know intuitively that the man who is exceptionally proud of being Irish and Catholic would be just as proud if he had, by some twist of fate, been raised to think of himself as German and Lutheran. It's not that he thinks of his groups as wonderful, it's that HE is wonderful and they are HIS groups.

Group pride is one side of the coin; group prejudice is its opposite side. Trouble-making group leaders of gangs, tribes religions or nations have always been able to use group prejudice to incite their followers to attack and bully weaker groups.



I can make many more connections of human behavior which can be classified as arrogance but this OP is already too long.

What do you think about labeling arrogance as a prime suspect when trying to explain human failings?

Not think that insecurity (often passed on) might be just as involved or more so than arrogance in many of these examples?

 

[joe1776]

Not think that insecurity (often passed on) might be just as involved or more so than arrogance in many of these examples?

The label psychiatrists stick on high arrogance is superiority complex and they say that they always find an inferiority complex (insecurity) below the surface. So, your theory has merit. But I can't make the logical connection.

I start with the premise that behavior is driven to satisfy unconscious needs -- the way that the behavior we call 'drinking' satisfies our body's unconscious need for water. When that need is satisfied (the thirst is quenched), we feel pleasure.

Logically, arrogant behavior satisfies the unconscious need to feel superior to others. and when that need is satisfied, we gloat.

I can't make the same logical connection to it, but I do sense insecurity below the surface in the arrogant people I know. I wonder if people with what's called a "bipolar disorder" aren't bouncing back and forth between arrogance and insecurity.