Guest blogger Paul D. Van Pelt opines on these concepts–important topics to consider in 2023!
Think of arrogance, ignorance and pride as on a continuum. Pride is often viewed as an attribute, as well it should be. We are proud of our families and lifetime achievements. In all good intention, we are sometimes proud of things which, on reflection, we ought not be proud of. We are human, though, and our angels may show a splash of tarnish. No one does the right thing all of the time. Sliding back a notch to the left, Narcissism gets a bad rap, more so perhaps because of recent representations. Many of us are guilty of this when we become too full of ourselves. There is a thin line, often indeterminate between Pride and Narcissism. Inveterate narcissists lose sight of the line, if they ever had it in sight a priori…too full of themselves and other less-mentionable material. Arrogance tugs sharply from the left, deepening the ever-growing chasm between decency and deceit. Better angels are incinerated by the heat, illumination replaced by inferno.
Ignorance may stand alone. It was written, some time ago, that there are three kinds of people: those who make things happen; those who watch things happen; and, those who wonder what happened. Many otherwise intelligent people are ignorant*. They need not be either narcissistic, prideful or arrogant. They simply don’t know what is happening nor are they interested enough to care. Moreover, they are too busy. In my most humble opinion, distracted drivers fit this category, implacably.
Finally, a few words about Arrogance. It has some usefulness. Does this surprise you? Let me explain. There is an old admonition, often associated with military service: “never apologize, it’s a sign of weakness”. I used to think it an arrogant adage. In later years, I reconsidered earlier judgment. Soldiers go into battle with two primary objectives, 1. Stay alive, and, 2. Win. No apologies, excuses or regrets. There is no room for weakness if objectives are to be met. Weakness in battle leads to indecisiveness which can be fatal: too many fatalities=losing the battle. I hope this clears that up for you as it has for me.
Every minute of everyday, everyone of us falls somewhere on the continuum discussed, whether for the most crucial or trivial of reasons. Life- or-death decisions are, thankfully, not driving our every waking moment. No single feature or subset is more important that another, unless one is a soldier or police officer. Common sense has taken a backseat to ignorance, however. And that is a problem for all of us. Arrogance, Ignorance and Narcissism are mutually self-propagating. Pride drowns in that ocean, if no one throws her a line.
I began this piece mentioning better and lesser angels. The illustration of how Arrogance is, in one case, useful was indicative of change in point-of-view. As of this writing, I have not adduced a similar foundation for either Ignorance or Narcissism. They remain among other lesser angels, common in everyday life — more prevalent now than at any other time in human history. Selfness, as I have dubbed it, lies somewhere beneath the continuum described here. It underpins the angels, better and not so much; drives reasonings and motives; convinces us to lie to others, when that is expedient, and to ourselves when we won’t take responsibility for errors. All of these strategies and manipulations are features of the higher-order consciousness posited by Gerald Edelman. Change in POV is compelled by change in thinking. Every sort of thinker knows this. Many of them will not talk about it. Except, maybe, over beer and a shot.
(*Interests, preferences and motives drive behaviors more than knowledge. I don’t think this was always the case, but wasn’t there then)
Paul can be contacted through gmail, simply add the prefix: pdvanpelt@
