Archived Get Over Yourself

[miyi]

I've stumbled upon an interesting article earlier today that talks about how in our culture, we are obsessed with the pursuit of self-esteem, which tends to make us arrogant and closed-minded people.

see article ---> here.

I happen to think that self-esteem is a strength, however it can also be a weakness if your self-esteem is artificial.

In other words, suppose you've worked your butt off doing something, and finally you've accomplished it. Naturally, this is a self-esteem boost in and of itself.

On the flip side, suppose you've accomplished something very mediocre, and you've given yourself way too much credit than it deserves -- you've shot a basketball five times in a row, and all the sudden, you think you're the greatest basketball ever -- this is what I mean by artificial self-esteem.

So in short, I think being honest about your own accomplishments and feeling good about it, is not necessarily bad. Just don't let it feed too much into your ego, even if you think so highly of yourself.

Ideally, we should strive for being modest, especially when being around other people.

As much as we think of how great we are, more than likely there will always be someone out there that is better.


***


So, what do you think about the article? Do you agree or disagree?

Do you know anyone with an overextended self-esteem? Do you tolerate them?

In internet forums, how is interacting with people like, given their anonymity? Do you think that forum users tend to be more arrogant than they probably would otherwise, in real life?

Or anything you'd like to share in general related to the topic?

 

[Saturn]

For some reason, I grew up hating every person who had high self-esteem. I never thought people deserved to feel proud of anything they can do. Pride is not dangerous, per se, but when combined with particular human emotions, it can have horrible consequences. Self-worth is important for most people, I think, whether they admit it or not. Why are there so many religious? They need their sense of purpose. I feel this is negative and a weakness, but this is my personal opinion.

For me, I interact with people on the internet the same as I do in person. However, I do believe many others bring out parts of themselves they are afraid to bring to people in their offline lives.

Apologies for my stupid reply.

 

[phe-chan]

I thought that was a pretty interesting article. Although, I don't think that a lot of the people they were talking about actually had true high self esteem.

In my opinion, there is a difference between high self esteem and flat out arrogance. People with true high self esteem should know their own self worth and should believe in themselves. But it doesn't mean that they have to be blind to their own faults, nor does it mean they think they think they are perfect. Having true high self esteem means you can acknowlege yourself just as you are, good parts and bad. (Most good and bad things at least, since we are human after all)

I think for the most part, arrogance is really just a sign of how little self esteem a person really has. If you really believe you are so smart/hot/talented/etc... they why would you need to convince everyone else of it? And if you really love yourself as much as you say you do, then why would you need to go out of your way to put another down? The really happy people are never the ones who enjoy making others lives miserable.

Yikes... long post. I think I went of bit off topic, so I apologize for that... ^^;; Erm... as for your questions... sorry, but this is all that really came to mind (at least at the moment) ;;>_>