# Why are so many highly intelligent people so arrogant?



## Still Waters (Sep 18, 2008)

Are the rest of us really so horrific to deal with? They seem to mistake confidence for aggression. Anyone else picked up on this? I have nothing against people with very high IQ's,but they seem to often take a little too much credit for their genetic gifts. :roll Can anyone relate?


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## scarpia (Nov 23, 2009)

I think stoopid people are just as likely to be arrogant.


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## estse (Nov 18, 2003)

I'm stupid and arrogant some of the time. Pathetic and worthless all of the time. And very drunk.


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## lonelyjew (Jan 20, 2010)

Still Waters said:


> Are the rest of us really so horrific to deal with? They seem to mistake confidence for aggression. Anyone else picked up on this? I have nothing against people with very high IQ's,but they seem to often take a little too much credit for their genetic gifts. :roll Can anyone relate?


Where is this coming from exactly? I think real intelligent people generally have a more open mind. I've met a lot of idiots who are arrogant and believe they are smart, or at least feel the need to prove that they are when they clearly aren't. I remember one particular ******* who tried to use Heisenberg's uncertainty principle(for all the chem nerds) in a debate about ultimate morality, what exactly does not knowing the exact velocity and location of an electron have to do with morality?! The worst part is he wasn't the first to try to bring up scary quantum theory to prove something that had absolutely nothing even close to do with quantum theory...

I'm confident in my own intelligence but time and time again people tell me, when they first meet me, they think I'm dumb and it could very well be the fact that I don't show off my intellect.


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## metallica2147 (Feb 15, 2010)

Hey, we aren't arrogant, ok? Haha just kidding. I don't know why. I guess it has to do with people always telling them they're smart so they think highly of themselves.


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## VanDamMan (Nov 2, 2009)

In order to be successful(however you define it), you have to have a high degree of confidence. Confidence can easily slip into arrogance. 

I guess i think confidence and arrogance are the same thing. They are just opposite sides of the spectrum.


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## Amocholes (Nov 5, 2003)

When one is constantly being told that they are smarter (or prettier, or a better athlete, etc) than anyone else, they tend to believe it after a while. "I'm smarter than you are, so therefore I'm better." It's a simple matter of re-enforcement.


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## Hello22 (Feb 10, 2010)

From my experience, i actually find (some) stupid close-minded people more arrogant, mainly because they cannot back a single thing up due to falsified statements .... which really annoys me cos at least intelligent folk can back their arguement up with valid knowledge.
I find most (not all) intelligent people to be very humble and under estimate their abilities. To me it can be stupid people who over estimate what they actually know due to their arrogance


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## Kelly (Dec 12, 2003)

Maybe people work hard and take pride in their achievements. Other people then misinterpret this as arrogance. 

This works for anyone who assumes that someone is arrogant for whatever reason, whether it be for intelligence or success in some other area of life.

Have a nice day,
Kelly


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## leonardess (Jun 30, 2009)

I've found that all kinds of people can be arrogant. 

I think it's also just as much true that all kinds of people can be self effacing. I've also seen people who are intelligent, or have some other such quality, but discount it because they believe they are lacking in something else, like physical attractiveness, etc. 

I've also generally seen that people who are genuinely intelligent and are secure in that knowledge, tend to have wisdom and common sense as well, and don't feel the need to make everyone aware of their intelligence. they are wise enough to know that they are not the smartest tiger in the jungle.


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## sherbert (Jun 24, 2005)

Interesting thread. Too bad all of you are too stoopid to understand it!!









oh come on, you all were asking for that one.


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## ThatWierdGuy (Feb 20, 2010)

Paragraphs of debate and not a single shred of evidence. 

In my experience it is the opposite, that stupid people tend to be more arrogant, usually to make up for a lack of skill or expertise. Of course, this is just my opinion, based on experience without evidence, which makes it about as valid as any other opinion spouted here.


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## TheDaffodil (Jun 20, 2009)

Everyone is arrogant but about different things. People pride themselves on being "original" or "edgy" or "artistic" or "thuggish" or being activists blah blah...and it can be overwhelming, which I guess is why Pride is one of the deadly sins, haha. :b No amount of intelligence makes you immune to being arrogant. I probably am sometimes. Some people are just arrogant more often. Anyway, it's a part of humanity and it's usually nothing more than a terrible annoyance. So no worries.


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## CopadoMexicano (Aug 21, 2004)

who cares? :um


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## shyvr6 (Feb 18, 2008)

What are you basing this on?


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## Hot Chocolate (Sep 29, 2008)

ThatWierdGuy said:


> Paragraphs of debate and not a single shred of evidence.
> 
> In my experience it is the opposite, that stupid people tend to be more arrogant, usually to make up for a lack of skill or expertise. Of course, this is just my opinion, based on experience without evidence, which makes it about as valid as any other opinion spouted here.


Same experience here. And when I found out about their history, it's terrible, really terrible. I even feel better about myself.


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## ironheart (Aug 14, 2009)

Personally I don't believe that intelligent people are on the whole predesposed towards arrogance.


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## caithiggs (Jan 11, 2009)

I don't know, but I like a certain level of arrogance in people. Maybe I'm arrogant! ? Does this mean I'm smart? Sometimes I think arrogance can be a good thing, like because I am very competitive with arrogance in people, and I enjoy being competitive. But only intelligent arrogance. I don't like ignorant arrogance, obviously.


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## Still Waters (Sep 18, 2008)

Yes,anyone can be arrogant and for a multitude of reasons. Of course,people should feel proud of their achievements,nothing wrong with that. However, genetics is a crap shoot for us all and I've never understood the feeling of superiority that SOMETIMES goes hand in hand. To be conscious of being more intelligent than others is one thing,but it seems as if it would provide a better understanding of others. 
I have no facts or figures to offer,I'm merely talking about my own experiences-with SA we tend to feel separated from society anyway - why does this particular bias so often rear it's ugly head?


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## wraith (Feb 22, 2010)

In my book, if you're an *******, you're not intelligent. You might have a high IQ, but that doesn't make you smart. Sure, you're bright in the "classical" sense, but not where it really counts.


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## justpassinby (Oct 21, 2008)

Kelly said:


> Maybe people work hard and take pride in their achievements. Other people then misinterpret this as arrogance.
> 
> This works for anyone who assumes that someone is arrogant for whatever reason, whether it be for intelligence or success in some other area of life.
> 
> ...


Kelly, you seem very intelligent and i'm sure everyone on SAS knows you are. You should be very proud! A lot of knowledge goes a long way.

As for arrogant people (not only relating to intelligence), maybe they haven't been humbled yet. :stu


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## Brax (Jun 15, 2005)

In my experience it is usually the one calling someone else arrogant who has the problem; some sort of insecurity. The intelligent or skillful one judges a person lacking from his level or has little or no tolerance for the lacking, thus judges accurately and without a blinder commonly called 'compassion' and not being able to live up to such a level at that time the one who is lacking lashes out as if this means such a judgment is outside of an objective framework. But it is not unobjective - it is merely outside of their ability, making the lacking person the relatively unobjective.


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## Mr. Frostie (Nov 2, 2008)

Wasn't there a study in the news about this recently? One of the researchers said something to the effect that people with high IQs are more likely to be politically liberal and atheist because they're elitists and like to entertain novel, non-mainstream ideas that go over the heads of the plebeians.


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## Altered (Mar 2, 2010)

Probably fox news..


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## Sunshine009 (Sep 21, 2008)

I don't know. Maybe they would know if you ask them, since they know everything after all. Not to say that only they would know, no offense to anyone who seems to know here. I'm just saying they might know too.


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## Mc Borg (Jan 4, 2008)

rweezer36 said:


> I'll answer this after I get back from my morning constitutional. In the meantime, I'm going to indulge myself in an audio-visual experience, or what you common-folk would call a "movie". I'd tell you the title, but it's foreign and the scope is likely beyond your grasps. I have a feeling it'll be profound and ostentatious at the same time, what a conundrum!


:teeth Awesome. lol



> Wasn't there a study in the news about this recently? One of the researchers said something to the effect that people with high IQs are more likely to be politically liberal and atheist because they're elitists and like to entertain novel, non-mainstream ideas that go over the heads of the plebeians.


Yeah, I read about that the other day. Here's a link for anyone interested.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/02/26/liberals.atheists.sex.intelligence/index.html?hpt=Mid


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## james25 (Jan 1, 2010)

Maybe it's because they're used to people saying stupid stuff all the time, so they tend to dismiss what people say. I'm not saying they're right to do that, just offering a possible explanation.


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## Cedilla (Dec 25, 2009)

I can see how you come to that conclusion, but I don't think that is the case. Most intelligent people are pretty hard to pick out from the crowd. A lot of those people have no idea how smart they are either.


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## ThatWierdGuy (Feb 20, 2010)

Mr. Frostie said:


> Wasn't there a study in the news about this recently? One of the researchers said something to the effect that people with high IQs are more likely to be politically liberal and atheist because they're elitists and like to entertain novel, non-mainstream ideas that go over the heads of the plebeians.


More intelligent than what? The article was quite vague. The majority of MENSA members are libertarian. Are atheist liberals more intelligent that the religious? Probably. But atheists in general, regardless of political leaning, are more intelligent. So this article proves nothing.

Based off SAT scores of red and blue states (which correlate highly with IQ, and even stronger with g, a more accurate assessment of intellect), the IQ difference between conservatives and liberals is a whopping 1 point.

It funny that those that claim tolerance have no qualms claiming they are intellectually superior. Hypocritical, and proof that equality is not the main motivation.

And the study looked at adolescents! That is hardly representative of the entire population. People don't retain their political leanings at that age, and probably don't even know enough about politics to begin with. I was academically gifted as well, I knew nothing about politics in my teens, and I can say that 99.9% of kids know little about politics (mainly cause they don't care), even the intelligent ones. Thus, with a lack of proper knowledge, they copy the leanings of their teachers. ( a very left-leaning profession)


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## eionof (Jul 22, 2013)

*Hello I'm new.*

So when i push buttons it writes word on the screen for me?.................Awesome!
I thought I'll check this out. 
I have thought about arrogance, particularly resonantly. So I Googed and this forum popped, up signed up like some 1oth minutes ago.
HI!


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## basuraeuropea (Jul 25, 2012)




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## CrimsonTrigger (Jun 28, 2011)

They might have low self-esteem. I knew a guy who was ridiculously arrogant and constantly trying to educate people on things they didn't care about. Half the time the things he said were completely wrong. I get the impression he was doing it to make himself seem smarter than he really was. 

Being intelligent doesn't excuse one from having low self-esteem.


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## Ventura (May 5, 2009)

Some people are better at certain skills then others (e.g they might be lacking social and boundary skills that come off as no filter, or blunt)


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## Sacrieur (Jan 14, 2013)

Bow to my ultimate intelligence peon.


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## Richard Pawgins (Jul 11, 2013)

its probably because they're annoyed by the ignorance they witness everyday


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## losteternal (Apr 1, 2013)

I know loads of people who think they are clever and are really arrogant and actually quite stupid. The few people I know who are exceptionally intelligent are very nice, down to earth people and even pretend im not an idiot when talking to me.


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## Whatrnames4 (Apr 24, 2013)

Define intelligence.... Then define arrogance... Maybe intelligent ppl just know better or put themselves on a pedestal... They forget to be empathetic... Forget they were once beginners at something?


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## probably offline (Oct 8, 2012)

I think that many of "them" received too much praise and compliments, while growing up, which make them feel like they're "special" in comparison to everyone else.


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## Dark Shines (Feb 11, 2013)

I can honestly say that I've encountered arrogance in people across a wide range of IQs. To be honest, I feel IQ only really identifies a specific type of intelligence, arrogance for example is a trait that I do not consider to be indicative of intelligence, I feel that an over-inflated perception of how clever one is, serves to inhibit one's ability to become cleverer, perhaps _"the more perfect we believe we are, the less perfect we become."_

The fact is, it doesn't matter how clever you are, you could sit yourself down in a room with 10 randomly selected people and for every 1 thing you know, each and every one of the people around you will know many things you don't.

Perhaps if you provide specific examples of the kind of arrogance or situations that you find offensive?

On the other hand, I think that whatever personality flaws they may or may not have, intelligent people tend to be subject to other peoples' prejudices also.

*E.g.*

Irrespective of how you might feel about your own intelligence, if you even care about it at all! If other people consider you to be intelligent and you want to try and fit in with them and be friends with them, then probably the best thing you can do to achieve that, is keep your opinions to yourself and not talk about anything.

It can be hurtful if every time you open your mouth about something in a group, they chastise you for being a smartarse, or sneer at or groan at you, or gang up on you, or subject you to comments like _"why does he always know everything?"_ or _"oh god, here he goes again!"_ or _"no we've moved on, you can shut up now."_ or just change the subject completely, because they might in some way perceive your input to the discussion to be a threat for some reason.

Or they can't solve a puzzle or understand something, so they sarcastically say, "just give it to him, he'll do it!" and then you're faced with the situation where you can either act dumb and then get ripped to pieces as if you're the most moronic person on the planet, they haven't ripped each other to pieces for not being able to do it, but because they always expect you to be able to do everything and know everything, when you can't or don't, they make out like you're the biggest failure in the world. Or you can act smart and then have them all groan at you and make you feel like some kind of weird, inhuman toxic disease.

Whatever you do, or however you do it, or whatever you think or however you say it, if other people consider you to be intelligent, then you can just totally forget about fitting in with them, because they wont let you.

So then what you do is stop talking and just keep quiet and not say anything, but then instead of being bullied for being an irritating know it all(not in your own eyes, but in theirs!), you get bullied for being a shy, quiet dweeb who never talks or socializes.:cry

Then you develop a debilitating anxiety disorder because it doesn't matter what you do or how you try and act to make other people like you, it's never good enough for them and they always make you feel like an abnormal outcast who doesn't fit in.

I think people can just be cruel, I don't think intelligences matters so much, some people are just ***holes.


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## Glass Child (Feb 28, 2013)

Because they feel they are entitled... and they think they are higher than everyone else.

Too bad they are still too foolish to realize that they are just the same as the others. Very idiotic, tbh..


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## NeuromorPhish (Oct 11, 2012)

ThatWierdGuy said:


> Paragraphs of debate and not a single shred of evidence.
> 
> In my experience it is the opposite, that stupid people tend to be more arrogant, usually to make up for a lack of skill or expertise. Of course, this is just my opinion, based on experience without evidence, which makes it about as valid as any other opinion spouted here.


Agreed. 
And it would be interesting to read a study demonstrating a correlation between intelligence and arrogance. So far though, it seems like a stereotype, perhaps induced by the medias portrayal of intelligent people as "know-it-all's"..?


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## shelbster18 (Oct 8, 2011)

I can't stand those really smart people that like to show off how intelligent they are and make me feel stupid.


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## Veritastar (Aug 16, 2011)

They tend to get overconfident about their knowledge. Overconfidence can be blinding which leads to arrogance and the fear of being wrong and denial. Being on top if not managed well can actually lead to bad things.


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## HilarityEnsues (Oct 4, 2012)

Arrogance and Confidence are two forms of the exact same thing... Just sayin'.


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## CoastalSprite (Sep 8, 2011)

Funny enough, the most intelligent people I know aren't arrogant. I don't think the ones who truly are feel the need to flaunt.


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## monotonous (Feb 1, 2013)

because they are highly intelligent?


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## lostinlife (Jun 2, 2010)

I think it's a defense mechanism. Don't a lot of highly intelligent people get bullied a lot when they are younger? You either find a way to fit in, or you cling to the thing that makes you different from other people. Then when they are older, it's just hard to let that defensiveness go. A common thought process might be, "I might not be traditionally x, but at least in this one thing, I'm better than most people."


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## Moceanu (Jun 29, 2013)

I wouldn't quite call it "genetic gift".. at least not all the time. 

I think it has more to do with upbringing(how,where,when,etc) Luck, essentially. 

I don't know all that many smart people like that, but then again I don't know too many smart people. I would say however, it's pretty easy to become arrogant about such a thing and be honest with yourself: if you had lots of power, or knowledge or something pretty damn good to begin with, you'd likely he happy and arrogant about it.


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## riderless (Jul 21, 2013)

Arrogance is defintely not a domain, monopolised by intelligent people.

Arrogance is more the domain of small minded people with a narrow view of the world.
The kind of arrogance I've had to deal with at work recently is more to do with insecurity and seeing things in black and white. Superficial comprehension. I'm more inclined to think those who love certainty, those who love simple labels, simple solutions to complex problems without any grey area, those allergic to doubt and ambiguity. They are then ones who promote arrogance and support it as well. Certtain kinds of fundamentalist religions come to mind.


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## InfiniteBlaze (Jan 27, 2011)

Most people in general are too ****ing arrogant whether they're a genius or pants on head retarded.


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## CrimsonTrigger (Jun 28, 2011)

InfiniteBlaze said:


> Most people in general are too ****ing arrogant whether they're a genius or pants on head retarded.


Truth.


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## Earl of Lemongrab (May 15, 2012)

And just why was a 3 year old thread resurrected?
In my own experience, I've only ever met one person who fit the description that you speak of. This girl was extremely academically intelligent/gifted and didn't make any secret of it - she'd constantly show off her knowledge at any given chance, although it was fairly obvious that her reason for sharing knowledge was not for the sake of helping anyone, but because she was in love with the sound of her own voice (which was extremely irritating and nasal, btw). She seemed to enjoy regularly mocking/putting down people who she believed to be intellectually inferior to her, and was extremely closed-minded towards discussing any subjects outside of her (very narrow) academic interests the majority of the time. I found out some time after I met her (to my horror) that she actually used to post here on SAS, and in her posts she discussed how being so much smarter than everyone around her was the real root of her SA. She was what I would call "academically brilliant but emotionally retarded." Thankfully, pretty much every other "academic genius" I've met had a relative degree of emotional intelligence/empathy for others as well - she was basically the only exception. 

Anyway, the person that I met and the one you've described in the OP is what is called a narcissist. Of course, one would never WANT to admit to being a narcissist, which is why I presume the aforementioned girl convinced herself that she had SA instead.


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## DarrellLicht (Mar 9, 2013)

If you're the kind of person who grew up with support and encouragement out of all facets of life and weren't really doubted at any point, it's easy to see how this can go to your head.

It's a habit that is drilled from childhood. Much like SAD. 

There are always exceptions with those who are successful that came from harder backgrounds. I tend to think those people are more compassionate/accommodating to others in comparison.


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## Earl of Lemongrab (May 15, 2012)

moroff said:


> If you're the kind of person who grew up with support and encouragement out of all facets of life and weren't really doubted at any point, it's easy to see how this can go to your head.
> 
> It's a habit that is drilled from childhood. Much like SAD.
> 
> There are always exceptions with those who are successful that came from harder backgrounds. I tend to think those people are more compassionate/accommodating to others in comparison.


This is probably true to an extent, but there are also plenty of people who come from good backgrounds who maintain a grounded attitude/are reasonably level-headed as well. I think if the parents don't teach you to be appreciative, that's where the real issues of "entitlement" and "superiority" come in. With the girl I mentioned previously, I noticed that her own mother seemed to be encouraging of her behaviour at times - they were friends on Facebook and she'd comment on her status saying "You tell em girl!" whenever she made a statement that was intended to patronize one or more persons, which was often.


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## Sacrieur (Jan 14, 2013)

I have seen throughout my life people who are ignorant, arrogant, self-absorbed, narrow-minded, and slow.

But never in my life have I met someone who was stupid or didn't matter. I wrote a poem for this very occasion.

_Who am I to judge?

In this and that and all things perhaps. Who am I to revel in truth, confidence with tooth? With hard words and tongue, we pen our wrong, to claim that we know, but it fails us to writ with arrogance in tow.

Do not let this mockery continue, do not let your heart be swindled, do not let your mind take hold; there is no solace in your ignorance willing: that is your ego, evil and filling._


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## DarrellLicht (Mar 9, 2013)

trisquel said:


> This is probably true to an extent, but there are also plenty of people who come from good backgrounds who maintain a grounded attitude/are reasonably level-headed as well. I think if the parents don't teach you to be appreciative, that's where the real issues of "entitlement" and "superiority" come in.


You take in a lot of behavioral attributes from your parents. If mom and dad are affluent and tend to be cliquey, or if they decide to be respectful and compassionate.


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## Arthur Pendragon (Mar 17, 2013)

Still Waters said:


> Are the rest of us really so horrific to deal with? They seem to mistake confidence for aggression. Anyone else picked up on this? I have nothing against people with very high IQ's,but they seem to often take a little too much credit for their genetic gifts. :roll Can anyone relate?


It's not hard to understand why there would be a correlation. While stupid people who try to be arrogant get shut down immediately with presence of general reason, intelligent arrogant people do not have such luxury, and therefore are more likely to maintain their arrogance. In addition, someone who is not arrogant will have less confidence in themselves, and will be less likely to be trusted (which may be bad if one is clearly more knowledgable in ways that would otherwise benefit the surrounding public).

Edit: However, I will agree that those who are openly arrogant tend to be dumber, as the insecurity in arrogance forces them to validate their opinions externally, and you would either have to be really dumb(via ignorance) or very smart(via external coherence) to keep such ignorance. Additionally, the dumb and arrogant would keep showing off their arrogance, and be more memorable from being so obnoxious (whereas someone who is intelligent and arrogant would not seem so as you can only establish arrogance within those who you can falsify, or you risk arrogance yourself).

Also, IMO arrogance is somewhat a challenge to other peers who have high levels of the quality being treasured. This leads to the basis of intellectual arrogance: without contradicting data or alternative explanations, an existing theory is the most valid by default monopoly.

For example, given two identical cars, save for color, a strong preference for a certain car would be linked to that color. Alternatively, the competing theory that the position of the cars matter, both color preference and position preference are valid. In the case of intelligent arrogance, given no competing theory of position, as well as an inability to come up with that theory him/herself, the arrogant intellectual will find him/herself unchallenged and justified in his/her arrogance.

However, having experience as one of these intellectual *******s, I can tell you that there is no greater pleasure than to know that one's arrogance can be challenged, and that arrogance can originate from desperation. Also, do not confuse arrogance for confidence, as someone who takes pride in his/her intellect may find someone else who does so similarly arrogant, especially when combined with the frustration of being unable to prove his/her arguments. Given the different combinations of arrogance, as well as the nature of the emotion, it is hard to tell the truth of which individual(s) is/are arrogant.

On another note, if an intellectual is surrounded by people who are smarter than him/her, you will find that in most cases the arrogance should dissipate, as there it is neither necessary nor warranted.



TheDaffodil said:


> Everyone is arrogant but about different things. People pride themselves on being "original" or "edgy" or "artistic" or "thuggish" or being activists blah blah...and it can be overwhelming, which I guess is why Pride is one of the deadly sins, haha. :b No amount of intelligence makes you immune to being arrogant. I probably am sometimes. Some people are just arrogant more often. Anyway, it's a part of humanity and it's usually nothing more than a terrible annoyance. So no worries.


This, although replace "is" with "can be" as the Idealist within me believes that a completely modest person can exist. I also find that intellectual arrogance is probably one of the least aggravating sources of disturbance, where arrogance in individuality, personality, or in emotional empathy (the most annoying one IMO) are much more provoking.



trisquel said:


> Anyway, the person that I met and the one you've described in the OP is what is called a narcissist. Of course, one would never WANT to admit to being a narcissist, which is why I presume the aforementioned girl convinced herself that she had SA instead.


I think the root of the problem is deeper than this. Narcissism and SA can both coexist, and both can be results from insecurities of one's self. The idea that intelligence and emotional intelligence are mutually exclusive only applies to people that are 100% productive. That is, a person who chooses to study will be more intelligent in factual knowledge than those who don't, assuming that no factual knowledge is being discussed in the social venue. Also, there is the colloquial "smart until he/she opened his/her mouth" clause, where one can be confident in his/her intelligence until interaction with others may prove otherwise (a closet arrogant). That is, the lack of social interaction removes external judgment of one's thoughts, promoting a sense of individuality (a person's thoughts will seem novel and original given a small sample size) and intellectual narcissism (also from individuality and the small sample size). Thus one could say that the insecurity behind narcissism reinforces SA, an external shell that protects the narcissistic core.


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