is it ever ok to feel that you're superior to some people?

Robsweezie

I'm not saying go around like kanye west, but acknowledge that in terms of intelligence, non academic education, and general morality, that you are better than some?

keith16

Why, what difference would it make if it's ok or not?

Mr_Muffin

Of course it is.

I walk around all the time thinking i am superior to virtually everyone. When i really think about it though i am just the same just slightly better.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

If you patently are, then so be it.

Omackeral

Have you ever seen an episode of Jeremy Kyle? That'll boost your ego tenfold.

Junkyard Tom

Better at what?

SCOOP 64

Yes ,but try not to sound like a right W....ker.

Robsweezie

Junkyard Tom wrote:

Better at what?

Just a better person, as a whole.

kneemos

Malik Wrong Geisha wrote: »

If you patently are, then so be it.

Your not . We're all a product of chance and have flaws and assets.
Logically you can't be inferior or superior.

People are better or worse or equal in different aspects. It's human to feel you're succeeding where someone else might be obviously failing, but it's not okay to point it out or to behave as though you're more worthy because of it.

RaRaRasputin

I can't see how it wouldn't be ok. I feel like this on a daily basis, so I consider it a normality.

RayM

If I see someone spitting on the ground, I immediately know I'm superior to them.

Liam McPoyle

Robsweezie wrote: »

Just a better person, as a whole.

Heh, If you read that in an Italian accent it sounds like you are calling Rob an asshole.

One eyed Jack

Candie wrote: »

People are better or worse or equal in different aspects. It's human to feel you're succeeding where someone else might be obviously failing, but it's not okay to point it out or to behave as though you're more worthy because of it.

Nail on the head as always

It's only acceptable to acknowledge your superiority in an area if you're willing to acknowledge that there are others above you who you should aspire to, and those beneath you who you should try to help.

Don't be an ass about it and don't try to humiliate people for it and you'll be fine

Medusa22

I'm not sure if it's ok as such, but I certainly think it is very difficult to avoid feeling that way at some point or another. I think people often need to feel better or superior to others, especially if they lack self-esteem but not necessarily. Sometimes I feel superior to other people and sometimes I feel inferior, and I think most people feel that way.

Samaris

It's probably something that most of us generally can't help. Feelings or thoughts are difficult to NOT have, albeit we can probably train ourselves out of it if we want by feeling bad about it

I don't think it's a bad thing, depending on what it is you're feeling superior about. Some reasons might seem nonsensical to the vast majority, some are probably shared. And of course it goes both ways - while you're feeling superior to Bob down the road due to your education and job, he might be busy feeling superior to you about his marriage and your awful fashion sense :P

Basically, the usual rule of not being a dick about it applies.

eternal

Nobody's life is perfect. What some people have, others don't. You might think they are better off but they could be very unhappy inside. All you can do is live your life to the best of your ability doing what you think is positive without hurting other people and getting by. It's never going to be easy but I've seen people laugh at others and ending up on the scrap heap. No one knows where they will be in ten years time so you won't get anywhere lording it over whom you deem to be lower than you when in that much time they could be the ones looking at you differently.

Smidge

For the life of me, I have never understood people with attitudes like Srameen has posted.
You may be more successful, more intelligent or better educated. You may be better looking or have a better body or even a shed load of money. And good luck to you(genuinely mean that, it's not said in a begrudging way at all )
You may have all of the above but it most certainly NOT make you better than anyone else.

You are flesh and bone just the same as everyone else.
However, if you do have that attitude, the same cannot be said about your soul and mind.

OreaM

I saw a female version of Jabba the Hutt playing with a one-meter long inflatable penis in the LUAS today, and I felt exactly like that (i mean the superior thing OP mentioned, not the 1m long penis part).

As pointed out in previous comments, I think it's ok to acknowledge it sometimes (for your own ego and because some comparisons are just not debatable). Just bear in mind that this is might be a reality just at one specific point in time.

To link this back with the LUAS situation above, Jabbette the Hutta may lose weight and become a model with a Law degree within 3 years and make me feel miserable next time I see her. Probability is low but you never know And that's the kind of thought better kept inside your head whenever it comes up, or it's likely to backfire xD

kneemos

Feeling superior is in itself a flaw,and a pretty unendearing one.

Having had better opportunities to make good choices or having had greater advantages in life doesn't make anyone better. It makes their life easier in some aspects, but the person inside isn't better - or worse - because of them. Material things are no reflection of their owners worth.

People are always equal at the start, their opportunities and how they use them, rarely are.

Ave Sodalis

No, it's never okay. You may have your talents but they only out weigh where people lack those particular talents. You lack something else which another has a talent for. As the saying goes "it takes all sorts to make the world go round". Nobody is any better than anyone else as a whole and it's a concept that has been the anchor on humanity for a very long time.

You can get rid of the feeling of superiority. Same way you can get rid of feelings of inferiority. Not by making yourself feel bad or visa versa but by recognising that those feelings are just ego. It's your ego telling you that you're better and your ego telling you you're not good enough. It doesn't make it true. Your ego is merely a mask that can, with a bit of practice, be shaken off. The sooner we get rid of this superior/inferior nonsense, the better humanity will become.

downwesht

No matter who you are,what you are or what you think you are....6 x 3 will hold you in the end!You are no better or worse than the next person......it takes some people all their lives to figure this out,I wonder do some ever realise it!

justchecked

Robsweezie wrote: »

I'm not saying go around like kanye west, but acknowledge that in terms of intelligence, non academic education, and general morality, that you are better than some?

In one sense yes, in my humble superior opinion.

But be prepared to feel inferior too if you go down this route.

Also, it gets interesting and deep if you want to consider how circumstance controls us.

Lets say Im walking down a dark alley with a female doctor, and some potential aggressor is getting too close, in that situation I am superior to her as I have better chance at kicking said aggressors ass and preventing injury to either of us.
But say I get injured and the attacker runs off leaving me with a serious wound, then Im in her care and she is superior to me at stopping me dying.

So context.

Also if Stephen Hawking was to roll up to you today, you might have reason to feel inferior in this context of high technology where he can change the world, change the time context - you both are in the year 1512 and he's now a mere cripple or some such word, you however are a highly respected candle stick maker.

I think Einstein said something to the effect of 'if the world was all water then fishes would be number 1 ... or was it if climbing ability was most important then monkeys would be laughing at you and calling you a tard...yeah that was it, I would google it but Im wearing a towel.

Smidge

Candie wrote: »

Having had better opportunities to make good choices or having had greater advantages in life doesn't make anyone better. It makes their life easier in some aspects, but the person inside isn't better - or worse - because of them. Material things are no reflection of their owners worth.

People are always equal at the start, their opportunities and how they use them, rarely are.

And how people act having achieved these things. Be it in your career, the stock market or wherever.
Humility is in danger of becoming extinct in some quaters.

Yurt2

When you look at artistic geniuses, scientific polymaths or freak athletes its startlingly obvious that people aren't created equal. It's the great lie of the current epoch that people are all created equal, and differences are down to 'socialization' or 'privilege' when it's patently not true. Some people luck out with the genetic lottery and will enjoy a greater bounty in life. I've reconciled myself to that and the morass of mediocrity I paddle along in.

justchecked

Yurt! wrote: »

When you look at artistic geniuses, scientific polymaths or freak athletes its startlingly obvious that people aren't created equal. It's the great lie of the current epoch that people are all created equal, and differences are down to 'socialization' or 'privilege' when it's patently not true. Some people luck out with the genetic lottery and will enjoy a greater bounty in life. I've reconciled myself to that and the morass of mediocrity I paddle along in.

Yes but context, many polymath types would have been considered mere oddballs at one time.
The stars of the show would be those people who could bale the most hay, survive winter or who possessed genes resistant to plague.

Fox_In_Socks

Those that you meet and use and walk on, on the way up, will meet you again when you're on the way down.

freshpopcorn

I never think I'm better than people who I achieved better than nor do I think people who have excellent degrees/job's are better than me.
However I do think I'm better than people who burglar people homes/businesses, drink drivers, people who constantly cheat/scheme to get what they want/basically bad people.

The YOPPA

Robsweezie, I now feel superior to you, as I can see four grammatical errors in your opening post. So I guess the answer to your question is Yes. But then, we are all probably superior to one another, in different fields. You are probably superior to me in a lot of other ways!!

hatrickpatrick

It's ok, but you're incredibly likely to be wrong about it.

Stheno

I'm better than people I teach stuff to, as I'm more qualified, they are often better than me in terms of the insight they bring to my classes

Now if I get some jumped up little upstart who feels they know it all because they've read the book/are older than me/have more years work experience ..............................

An I better than my mechanic because I've more education? no
Or the staff in my local shop who make my day recognising me and saying hey, hows it's going?

No

An awful lot of strangers make my life a nicer experience.
A few years ago, I was off work sick as I had a bad knee injury, and when I went back on crutches, I went into my regular coffee shop.

The staff there knew me, and were very curious about my injury, and very solicitous towards me for the few weeks I needed help.

I made an effort in the few years I'd been going there to say hello and build up a little relationship, and not treat them like serfs.

Paid off, they felt I valued them, which I did, and they took care of me when I was hurt.

No one is above anyone else.

Ave Sodalis

Yurt! wrote:

When you look at artistic geniuses, scientific polymaths or freak athletes its startlingly obvious that people aren't created equal. It's the great lie of the current epoch that people are all created equal, and differences are down to 'socialization' or 'privilege' when it's patently not true. Some people luck out with the genetic lottery and will enjoy a greater bounty in life. I've reconciled myself to that and the morass of mediocrity I paddle along in.

Yes and no. Take the great athlete for example, maybe Bolt. Now there's no denying his talent. Now take someone who's been in a wheel chair all their lives. They aren't equal. Let's say the person in the wheelchair learns to walk the length if a hallway. That, to me, is a far greater achievement than any gold medal. Now let's say (touch wood!) Bolt has a serious accident that leaves him in a wheelchair. Who's to say he has the same drive to learn to walk again if it means never competing? Who's to say he would even have an injury that's curable? You can't say a great athlete is a superior human when there are those with severed spinal cords.

Schwiiing

Stheno wrote: »

I'm better than people I teach stuff to, as I'm more qualified, they are often better than me in terms of the insight they bring to my classes

Now if I get some jumped up little upstart who feels they know it all because they've read the book/are older than me/have more years work experience ..............................

An I better than my mechanic because I've more education? no
Or the staff in my local shop who make my day recognising me and saying hey, hows it's going?

No

An awful lot of strangers make my life a nicer experience.
A few years ago, I was off work sick as I had a bad knee injury, and when I went back on crutches, I went into my regular coffee shop.

The staff there knew me, and were very curious about my injury, and very solicitous towards me for the few weeks I needed help.

I made an effort in the few years I'd been going there to say hello and build up a little relationship, and not treat them like serfs.

Paid off, they felt I valued them, which I did, and they took care of me when I was hurt.

No one is above anyone else.

So a brain surgeon and a junkie are on the same level?

Ave Sodalis

Schwiiing wrote:

So a brain surgeon and a junkie are on the same level?

Yes.

Into The Blue

Robsweezie wrote: »

Just a better person, as a whole.

Starting a thread like this/having this subject on your mind should tell you more about yourself than comparing yourself to others from a distance.

justchecked

Schwiiing wrote: »

So a brain surgeon and a junkie are on the same level?

Fair point.

Gonna take a whole lot of context to even that one out.

Into The Blue

Schwiiing wrote: »

So a brain surgeon and a junkie are on the same level?

You say that as if they are from two different species. A brain surgeon who rapes his kids, versus a junkie, who, despite his habit, gets up for work every day to put dinner on his kids table...

One eyed Jack

Schwiiing wrote: »

So a brain surgeon and a junkie are on the same level?

It's not like the two are necessarily mutually exclusive... :pac:

JustTheOne

The people we are we have no control over.

It's in our chemical make up and that goes for murderers teachers rapists Etc.

There is nothing you can do to change it so just accept what you are.

Remember free will is an illusion.

simdan

kneemos wrote:

Your not . We're all a product of chance and have flaws and assets. Logically you can't be inferior or superior.

You're, not your

IamtheWalrus

I think folk who feel superior to others probably have low self-esteem. I'm speaking from experience. I used to judge others for not living the life I thought people should. When I looked at it, it was my own lack of self-worth that was causing me to think I was superior, I was trying to convince myself I was.

Since I've worked on my self-esteem, I'm less judgemental. I don't feel jealous, etc, if I hear other people being successful because I'm more comfortable in my own skin.

IamtheWalrus

simdan wrote: »

You're, not your

Oh dear.

One eyed Jack

JustTheOne wrote: »

The people we are we have no control over.

It's in our chemical make up and that goes for murderers teachers rapists Etc.

There is nothing you can do to change it so just accept what you are.

That is absolutely and categorically untrue. We grow, develop and change all the time, and our experiences have an influence on who we become and who we are.

Remember free will is an illusion.

That's only a ridiculous soundbite, parroted by people who lack imagination and ambition.

JustTheOne

One eyed Jack wrote: »

That is absolutely and categorically untrue. We grow, develop and change all the time, and our experiences have an influence on who we become and who we are.





That's only a ridiculous soundbite, parroted by people who lack imagination and ambition.

Of course experiences have an influence but whatever way an experience changes you you have no control over.

The same experience could have different consequences on two different people.

Why would that be the case?

IamtheWalrus

I feel sorry for every who has been born and will be born. No one asks to get involved in this. Life is a struggle and people's lives are influenced by their upbringing and environments. Hence why I never judge people for doing bad things. Every one is capable of making mistakes, doing bad things. It's impossible to escape this life without doing things wrong.

One eyed Jack

JustTheOne wrote: »

Of course experiences have an influence but whatever way an experience changes you you have no control over.

The same experience could have different consequences on two different people.

Why would that be the case?

For a number of different reasons really, one of the most important factors being their perspective, based upon previous experiences. There's another thread ongoing at the moment that talks about pseudomature adolescence and how the subjects circumstances a decade later were influenced by their behaviour in adolescence.

You sort of had a point with brain chemistry as another influence, and I've just come from a thread in tGC where they were discussing methods to delay the aging process. I think we're all aware of the benefits a change in our diet can have on our physical and mental health.

There are many other ways in which a person can control their experiences and learn to cope with both positive and negative outcomes from those experiences, in order to become a more mature, secure and well-rounded person as they transition through all stages of human development from childhood, through adolescence and into adulthood.

evo2000

Robsweezie wrote: »

I'm not saying go around like kanye west, but acknowledge that in terms of intelligence, non academic education, and general morality, that you are better than some?

Why would you want to do that? whats the point of it? do your own thing and stop comparing urself to everyone else,

Fratton Fred

I've felt superior to people, not because I have a better job or a bigger house, but because they are an round total ****.

They could be a total **** giving a Big Issue seller a hard time, or a total **** who is a big time lawyer or surgeon who talks down to people like they are dirt, it makes no odds.

People that treat other people with respect and empathy, no matter who they are or where they are from, no, I'd never consider myself superior to them.

Sunnyisland

We are all in the gutter but some of us are looking at the stars.

wakka12

Well who cares if its okay? Im sure plenty of tall people feel theyre better than short people, but society considers greater height a desirable trait so how would they not feel like theyre better than shorter people? Theres lots of other examples like this, no traits make somebody 'better' , we just consider some traits better due to societal standards and expectations.

Personally I think its not okay to think you're better than somebody else due to genetic traits such as height, race, intelligence, looks etc(though many people still do, obviously ) But if its something you earned and worked hard for then you can consider yourself better than somebody else due to your achievements.
But again, you may have earned those achievements due to genetic advantages you didnt work for such as looks or intelligence , so its a tough one..