I always find it interesting how some things in society have double standards. They are bound to occur, but actually critically finding them is fun.
We all accept that arrogant people can be jerks. The ones that think the world revolves around them and when they enter a room everybody is there for the sake of them. I think it is just part of society to condemn such thoughts. Most people never act that extreme and if they think it, they keep it hidden. It just isn't accepted. But what about the opposite? Instead of thinking that everybody in the room is there to praise, what if a person thinks that everybody in the room is there to criticize?
The idea of everybody criticizing you is much more common and acceptable. Maybe because it is lowering yourself instead of raising yourself, but I can't find this attitude meek. It is arrogance in the same vein. The important point in each one is that people are noticing you in the first place. Both situations the person places him or herself in the center, which is pretty much what ego does.
Just understanding this similarity helps so much. Think of all the people who panic over public speaking. What do they think will happen? That the crowd will become a mob? During a presentation, most people get the main details, then faze out. You know you haven't always fully paid attention to someone else's presentation, maybe to text or just because you were bored. People don't care enough about others to wholly criticize, so it is slightly arrogant to think that everybody will fully pay attention to you and nitpick any flaw.
Maybe I'm being a bit critical, but I don't see how one is more acceptable than the other. Both are extreme cases but there is enough people who think close to the poles that can prompt this thought.
The answer to your final question is already in your opening paragraph. Society has double standards for virtually everything, including one for the topic of arrogance. Why? Human nature. Deep down inside we are all selfish bastards to certain degrees, but showing others that will make us feel bad, which again goes back to the motive of selfishness. It's a never-ending cycle.
ReplyDeleteI feel like just saying we are selfish bastards is enough to explain double standards. There is enough ways being selfish is hated on and rewarded in our society. We all understand the difference because we were taught it, and we morph ourselves to it. Human nature is pretty simple to define and any philosopher that wrote about pre social contract theory has stated it. It is the interaction of that with "higher" ideals like morals, laws, and rights that cause these discrepancies. At that point, the real judging is done at a more individual level. Though this is probably looking at the trees instead of the forest, I don't think we (or at least me) have enough insight to make sweeping declarations outside our experiences.
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