Why are we repulsed by the arrogance of someone, even if it is justifiably backed by his genuine superiority?

Question

Many many thanks to everyone...... all answers are great....... reading them made my day!! Now the tough task to choose the Best... I could have put to vote, but I find most voters read only the first few answers..... I have to get down to choosing!!

Answer 1

because it hurts our arrogance and shows us our inferiority.

Answer 2

Hey there, Small! :)
Don't know if I'm too late to answer this but I have a thought...

It isn't that knowledge or superiority is repulsive. Certainly someone may possess a superior intellect, have more experience and education etc. This in itself wouldn't be off-putting. In fact it may make him admirable. It is only when someone puts others down while raising himself up that it would alienate others. Arrogance is when someone crosses the line, where they disrespect others and put themselves on a pedestal. Arrogance is out to prove something. It is out to make others feel inferior, that is why it is repulsive.

I have met people who were brilliant but quite modest and kind. They would never dream of insulting others. They never tried to make anyone feel stupid. But I have met others who were well-read and intelligent but quite aware of it and who delighted in showing off and looking down their noses at others. They would belittle anyone whom they deemed inferior. Pretentious, snobbish and mean-spirited, arrogance has anger behind it. It is a sign of someone who feels insecure and must compete with the whole world to prove that he is better. Arrogance backed by real knowledge is bad enough but the most repulsive is the person who thinks that he knows everything and will argue with you that black is white and night is day and you can't tell him any different. I met a guy like that before. Repulsive doesn't cover it!

If Anger and Conceit had a child, it would be Arrogance...

Answer 3

it indirectly states.... i am better than you, hence i have more word power, influence and i shall get the large amounts of resources.

arrogant people also find it tough to look at their own mistakes.

these things don't go through people's minds but they feel it.

arrogant people also magnify their acts as great while not acknowledgeing other people and most of all, people don't like arrogant people is because most people like and expect fairness but do not expect it from an arrogant person.

in my personal dealings with arrogant people, they are a bit narrow minded in the sense that it was their skill, brains and hardwork that got them there.

fortune plays a big part in a human's life.

arrogant people also seek similar personalities and put down different people........ people with a different way of thinking and personality that is, not based on actions or morals but just on this fact.

by doing this, they mock nature because in nature as in humans everyone is special albeit some are more capable at some tasks and there truly is no perfect human being.

the worst thing that arrogant people do is not make a human sad by showing they are inferior, but they pave the way for the idea for youth and people at the bottom that when you're at the top, anything goes and those who do make it to the top spring out their repressed feelings because how they were treated and now do the same with others.

Answer 4

Why? There is always some people who expects other people to behave the way they "should" be, in their levels.

How can you tell if someone is being arrogant? How can you tell that someone has genuine superiority? Are these not mere judgements by themselves, made by the offended one?

When the truth is, even if someone is really being arrogant, it doesn't matter. What matters is your chosen reaction to that someone's arrogance. Will you react in a positive way or in a negative way? You control your own emotions. There is always a choice.

To the faint of heart there will always be bigger and harsher wolves. Learn to deal with the small ones for now. That's how you grow. That's how you become strong.

A liar detects a fellow liar. A robber knows another robber. An arrogant hates another arrogant. We identify in others only the qualities we also have in ourselves...because we already know.

Don't judge...lest you judge your own self.

Answer 5

Because arrogance is a mean trait. The trait necessarily doesn't encompass the kindness and compassion toward others. Anyone would be repulsed. However, if you really prize that trait, one should be able to value that arrogant person no matter what he is reeking.

For example, an extremely arrogant person who is very intelligent does have a soft spot after all. You just have to find that soft spot and use it to your advantage kindly, so that interaction with this person doesn't leave you on the grounded seesaw.

Whatever merit he has, you have a different kind of merit usually and probably superior to his in other ways, such as social skills (apparently).

Answer 6

We're repulsed, in part, because it's an insult to our egos, yes, but...

I think the bigger issue is the insult to ordinary common sense, whether you think it's intuition, or whether you think of it as an ordinary person's grasp of logic. It's the Advertiser's Fallacy.

If something is so damned good, why does it need hype to sell? If a good is perfect for a task, or even superior for it, it will *sell itself* once word of mouth gets out. People *know* quality when they see it.

And the same goes for people. Arrogance in someone who otherwise *seems* superior, is a fraud alert. It tells us either that a) the person isn't as "good at" what they do as they seem (unfit for a purpose) or that b) the person isn't "good for" the purpose (unworthy of it, not good enough to be allowed to do it).

Case in point: Michael Vick. There's no question he was a talented football player. One could argue that he had some superiority *in the game* and was "fit" for the purpose.

But he was also cruel to animals, dishonest with himself, and showed a total lack of discipline *in life* and in the courtroom where *he needed it*, and so he is now by and large deemed Unworthy for the purpose--it's not that he *can't* play football professionally, it's that he shouldn't be *allowed the privilege*.

And much the same goes for anyone else in any endeavor. The insult to egos is bad enough, but when someone is arrogant, people *also* start to question merit as well. They start to question the apparent superiority, asking the "good at" *and also* the "good for" questions.

Simply put....*real* superiority is clear and obvious. People see it for what it is. It doesn't need to be sold.

And attempts to sell it, especially by way of that insulting attitude of arrogance, bring that apparent superiority under question.

I hope this made sense and was helpful. ^_^ Thanks for your time.

Answer 7

Arrogance is having an EXAGGERATED opinion of one's own abilities, importance, merit, etc. Thus, if the person in question is accurate in their self-appraisal, they can't be said to be displaying arrogance.

Also, not everyone IS repulsed by boastful behaviour - Muhammed Ali (the boxer) was famous for boasting about how he was "The Greatest", and he had millions of fans who adored him and agreed with him! True, his nick-name *was* 'The Louisville Lip' and many people detested his outspokeness!

The reason one might be repulsed by *perceived* arrogance it that it serves to draw attention to one's own limitations (or *perceived* limitations); and people generally prefer to think of themselves as competent rather than incompetent. Thus, boasting often makes those who hear it feel inferior so it's generally considered bad form to boast even if one IS brilliant.
Also, those who know that boasting can make people feel inferior (and thus miserable) can find a boaster repellant not because they *themselves* feel bad on account of it but because *others* might. Thus, bragging can inspire ANGER on account that it's downright inconsiderate of others' feelings.

Furthermore, NO ONE who boasts - not even ALI - is superior at EVERYTHING (not least the quality of humility) and boasting often repells people because they know this. Indeed, some people boast in order to draw attention AWAY from their weaknesses; anyone who suspects such a tactic will likely feel repelled at the attempt to dupe them (as well as feel inclined to scoff and point out such weaknesses).

Answer 8

"Arrogance on the part of the meritorious is even more offensive to us than the arrogance of those without merit: for merit itself is offensive. "
Friedrich Nietzsche

I don't know if you're familiar with a Brit comedy series called Red Dwarf? Well, in the later series there are two characters, Rimmer and Ace Rimmer.

Rimmer was there since the beginning and he is arrogant while being spineless and talentless. Ace Rimmer shows up as an alter ego of Rimmer. He's still arrogant but also extremely brave and gifted to deal with any situation. Yet almost everyone I've talked to who watches the series hates Ace Rimmer more than Rimmer. I know the episodes were written to foster this and it may even be a function of knowing Rimmer longer.

Still, it makes one think that Nietzsche might have had a point.

Answer 9

Is it my imagination or is someone going crazy with the thumbs down? I read many good answers here and saw it had one or two thumbs down. Just an observation...

I cannot speak for everyone else here but I can speak why I AM repulsed by arrogance even if it is backed by their superiority. FOR ME it is because I DON'T LIKE being put down by ANYONE. Whether they are superior to me or not. At least if they are superior to me say in skill, I can use that to better myself. If they are arrogant I use my anger to pull myself up and rise above it. The genuine hatred I have for 'arrogance' pushes me to work harder to be BETTER than them. Like many here said, the opposite of arrogance is compassion. I have to really work hard to be compassionate towards 'arrogant' people. In this regard I guess I am 'arrogant'. I guess, I am repulsed by myself!LOL
I guess it is easier to be nice and compassionate to someone who is less fortunate than you because it makes you feel superior. With those who are NOT you feel INFERIOR and therefore cause for alarm. ***DING, DING, DING, WARNING, DANGER***
I had to really observe myself in order to answer your question. I tried to be as honest with myself. I am sorry for my rantings. I had to really question my motives and look deep into myself. I guess I have to really clean house so to speak.

Thanks

Answer 10

Arrogance isn't justified by superiority in a given field of endeavor. Arrogance connotes an unwillingness to accept others as equals, which at some point down the road will get the arrogant person's butt kicked (either literally or figuratively), and for some strange reason people tend to avoid being in the close proximity of disasters waiting to happen.

Answer 11

"Genuine superiority?"
Its a shame some of those able to retain and understand more information than the average person decide to lord it over others. But when arrogance replaces humility, they prove themselves inferior, not superior,