A positive spin on arrogance

March 26, 2008

When a person asks if they look fat, the answer is always yes. People who are fit, know they are fit. Itâ€™s perhaps unfortunate, but common sense requires that you acknowledge that people who look good know they look good, even if well advised politeness or political correctness causes them to suppress any expression of that which is plain to see.

Such people should not require constant validation from those around them, unless they have other deficiencies. Some might call that arrogance, I prefer pragmatism and confidence. How can the acceptance of truth be a negative? No arrogant person can be lacking in confidence, they travel together, the difference is only a matter of perception. Barring any psychological issues, whichever term you prefer, if you have none there is probably something wrong with you. Maybe you should join a gym.

The same holds true for intelligence, knowledge and generally any skill set. If you’re good, you know you’re good. It’s that simple. When an undisputed fact is presented for your consideration you have only two options, either you accept reality or you accept living in a state of delusion. If you’re not at least a little bit arrogant you’re probably not very good at anything.

This does not prevent those with false delusions of value from crowding the stage, but for those who are genuine, the fakes stand out like elephants.

The world needs some arrogance because people who have none have no incentive to challenge themselves. The only rational justification of any attempt at extraordinary achievement is a belief in your ability to succeed beyond the limits of what has already been reached. That is arrogance, that is confidence, and that is damn important for human advancement. It takes an arrogant person to do anything of value, unless you get lucky.

Societyâ€™s attempt to equalize every individual reminds me of a child’s unsuccessful attempt to push a square block through a round hole; it doesn’t work because it doesn’t fit. People are not the same, get over your childish ideological opposition to reality. Instead of suppressing the best among us with guilt, jealously and socialist policies, imagine a world in which all extraordinary people were deluded into believing they are average, then realize how grateful you are the world has not been deprived of the benefits derived from their contributions. Join me here on earth, you won’t like the state of delusion, they don’t have running water.

I am arrogant, if you have a problem with that… I’ve got a bridge to sell you.

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