I want to hear peoples' views on arrogance.
To outline where I'm coming from, in this: I'm a person that believes, very highly, in the principle of mutual respect. I believe that people should always treat others with the same level of respect that they, themselves, would like to be shown. Anything less, in my eyes, is a hypocritical philosophy, in that those people that never feel the desire to treat others with respect are, often, those that get the most defensive, when they feel they are being imposed upon.
Many of these people, though, are so adamantly offensive, on a daily basis, that they jump at any chance to make even a complete stranger feel stupid or "inferior," as if life is about doing whatever one can, at the expense of anyone else, to make themselves feel better about themselves, even if they are the ones proposing a, logically-debatable, opinion. Many of them will say things, offhand, like "It's just fun making people feel stupid," or "oh well, it's their own fault for letting things that I say get under their skin" when, if the tables are turned, and they are the ones having someone smarter than them declare how they are "idiots" or "imbeciles," in a room full of peers, they, too, feel two inches tall, and become defensive.
One might call me 'hypocritical,' because I enjoy bringing the ignorance of arrogant people to the forefront, whenever I can, which could be catagorized as "having fun by making people feel/look stupid," but I feel that these sort of attacks are quite justified, if used when in confrontation with someone who is overly-aggressive with their egocentrism.
I understand that many arrogant people mistake their arrogance for "confidence" and simply take it too far. Often they just don't realize that, just because you "know" something, doesn't mean you are "superior" to anyone else, in a way that warrants belittling them for having a difference of opinion, or a lack of knowledge on a particular subject. To them, the bottom line is always: "I'm right...and you're a fucking idiot" even if it's possible that someone who has more extensive knowledge on the subject will come along, and correct them. To me, it's simply a projection of a desire to be, infallibly correct, not only on the particular topic, but in everything, in general. Often, this excessive dissent is use tactically (albeit covertly) to discourage a logical debate - the whole "If I make you feel stupid enough, for believing what you do, it will discourage you from taking a serious approach to prove me wrong, in fear of tipping the scale, even further, toward the position of your proving yourself to be an idiot" paradigm.
I don't want to make this introduction too long (even though I could go on about what I feel about arrogance, forever) so let's get started:
I know there are enough people, here at Dream Views, that are on both sides of the spectrum, to make this a pretty good discussion, so - it doesn't matter where you stand - let me know your stance on arrogance. If you are an arrogant person, and believe that people that "can't take it" should go cry in a corner somewhere, or grow up, tell me why are the way you are, and why being arrogant is such an alluring trait. If you are against arrogant people, and feel that they are simply insecure, on power-trips, or whatever, tell me why.
Discuss.