The below is content from: http://justanotherblogonsavingtheworld.blogspot.ca/
Original content is in black, annotations and insights by myself are in red
The Deadliest Sin
There are 7, but only I was smart enough to figure which is the worst of them
First off, this is just the skeleton of an essay I plan on writing in full later on after I'm out of school (if that ever happens).
I feel like I could organize a group of people who would contribute to paying his tuition forever so we could prevent this full essay from being written. However, it would be more cost effective to just hire a bully who follows him around and prevents him from writing ever again.
Secondly, there will be no sourcing used to back up my arguments, in part because of the first point, and also because Facebook does not allow you to use footnotes. And no, I did not write this in MLA or APA style even though they were possible alternatives, because as an amateur historian it is my sworn duty to write exclusively in University of Chicago Style. (Interrupt my pros will you?) (With your incessant brackets)
"I will not cite any of my arguments, because then it may become apparent that I am talking out of my ass. I will however make a self-deprecating joke about being an 'amateur' to seem more humble while ending my paragraph with some overly snooty comments to once again assert how clever I am (A. Douchebag, 2011)."
Thirdly, as you can probably tell already, this essay will be informal.
Fourthly, and finally, this is still a serious topic; one that really hits home for me, and probably will for you too.
This is not a serious topic, this is online self flagellation.
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To whom this may concern,
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To whom this may concern,
I learned from my mother that this was a proper and acceptable way to start a letter. I still think it is a bit pretentious. However, what follows makes this seem modest.
I often find myself feeling guilty whenever I unintentionally intimidate others. I try my hardest to keep to myself, and outside this profile and my presence in class, very few people actually know anything about me - which is largely my doing. You see, I purposefully minimize my value, even sometimes sacrificing and denying my capabilities and talents.
I have never seen anyone intimidated by Adam. Ever. Not intellectually, absolutely not physically, he is not intimidating. When I read this paragraph, I imagine he is answering the question "Why don't people always want to hang out, why don't girls want to talk to me, why am I staying in on a Saturday night writing Facebook notes about my wonderful theories instead of telling them to people? Because I try my hardest to keep to myself, and outside this profile and my presence in class, very few people actually know anything about me - which is largely my doing. You see, I purposefully minimize my value, even sometimes sacrificing and denying my capabilities and talents. To save the world of course. It's all to save the world (A. Douchebag, 2011)."
"Why would anyone do such a thing?" You might ask - especially in this vocation and credential focused world that's becoming more vocation- and credential-centric every day. Well, I have many reasons, but the most influential are those relating to my opinion of pride.
Just to be clear. He is attacking a world that measures merit on experience and training. Looking back in history, other systems that determined what opportunities you had access to determined this on criteria such as the colour of your skin or whether you were born into the right family (I am not saying these problems are not present in our world today, but they are not entrenched as the main factor).
Many philosophers, psychologists, etc. argued and continue to argue that the ego is an integral part of a healthy self-actualizing individual. But you don't need to consult them to justify pride - just look out the nearest window. There's a near consensus about the moral acceptability of pride - a consensus reflected by how most people cannot even second guess their vanity. It's practically normal.
"I saved those people from that burning building. I am going to take pride in that I have helped people today."
"Fuck you, you're a fire fighter! Don't take any pride in your accomplishments just maintain an emotionless existence until you die on the job and I criticize your inability to save yourself" (A. Douchebag, 2011).
"But Adam - if it's practically normal? Why write this note on Facebook?" Because although it's "normal," excessivepride will only and always cause harm. Excessive pride, for the purpose of this essay, will mean: over-valuing the self.
Ok, so maybe he doesn't hate fire fighters. But if you take his last paragraph and this paragraph together, it insinuates that outside your window is displays of all the pride of society and then coins the term excessive pride. He is intentionally being ambiguous over measuring pride to mislead, or he is an idiot. My money is on idiot.
Many contemporaries and many more predecessors have made and continue to make different versions of the argument I'm about to present. But one must acknowledge, that despite the best intentions of these people, pride continues to cause immense amounts of needless suffering.
Many philosophers, psychologists, etc. argued and continue to argue that the ego is an integral part of a healthy self-actualizing individual. But you don't need to consult them to justify pride - just look out the nearest window. There's a near consensus about the moral acceptability of pride - a consensus reflected by how most people cannot even second guess their vanity. It's practically normal.
"I saved those people from that burning building. I am going to take pride in that I have helped people today."
"Fuck you, you're a fire fighter! Don't take any pride in your accomplishments just maintain an emotionless existence until you die on the job and I criticize your inability to save yourself" (A. Douchebag, 2011).
"But Adam - if it's practically normal? Why write this note on Facebook?" Because although it's "normal," excessivepride will only and always cause harm. Excessive pride, for the purpose of this essay, will mean: over-valuing the self.
Ok, so maybe he doesn't hate fire fighters. But if you take his last paragraph and this paragraph together, it insinuates that outside your window is displays of all the pride of society and then coins the term excessive pride. He is intentionally being ambiguous over measuring pride to mislead, or he is an idiot. My money is on idiot.
Many contemporaries and many more predecessors have made and continue to make different versions of the argument I'm about to present. But one must acknowledge, that despite the best intentions of these people, pride continues to cause immense amounts of needless suffering.
It is fair to assume that too much pride may make an individual mentally elevate themselves above others, causing indifference to them and removing the moral problems of harming them. However I doubt that in a majority of cases where harm is caused that this is the motivator. More importantly, think of the person writing this, he believes he is the only person who can save the world and mentally elevates himself above others. Looks like he has some of his own excessive pride.
"So what's so bad about excessive pride?" Well, ask any of your local British/Western literature buffs and they'll be quick to denounce hubris. A major theme in Western literature, especially tragedy, hubris usually takes the form of a tragic flaw in the protagonist, most famously featured in the biblical genesis story superlatively conveyed in John Milton's epic: Paradise Lost.
"So what's so bad about excessive pride?" Well, ask any of your local British/Western literature buffs and they'll be quick to denounce hubris. A major theme in Western literature, especially tragedy, hubris usually takes the form of a tragic flaw in the protagonist, most famously featured in the biblical genesis story superlatively conveyed in John Milton's epic: Paradise Lost.
I'm going to leave this one alone, I've been a bit wordy this post.
Milton's work, like the Bible before it, portrayed the archangel Lucifer's fall and imprisonment in hell and his campaign to take revenge on God by corrupting his most prized children: humanity. The triggers that caused Lucifer's fall were related to excessive pride: he over-valued his self and was jealous of the value of God. Together, these functions of pride lead him to challenge said omnipotent. This story, the foundation story of all three of the major monotheistic religions, should have justifiably condemned pride forever into non-existence, or at least that appears to have been the desire of its creators, especially since they suggested that pride was the cause of every other sin.
Milton's work, like the Bible before it, portrayed the archangel Lucifer's fall and imprisonment in hell and his campaign to take revenge on God by corrupting his most prized children: humanity. The triggers that caused Lucifer's fall were related to excessive pride: he over-valued his self and was jealous of the value of God. Together, these functions of pride lead him to challenge said omnipotent. This story, the foundation story of all three of the major monotheistic religions, should have justifiably condemned pride forever into non-existence, or at least that appears to have been the desire of its creators, especially since they suggested that pride was the cause of every other sin.
Now before you get all: "Oh krap, he pulled the Bible/Pentateuch/Qur’an on us" let me assure you, I am not religious. In fact, I find the condemnation of hubris to be one of the few things that the monotheistic religions, in their infancy, actually got right.
krap? with a 'k'? really? you want to start a following and you can't spell crap. Idiot.
"But if excessive pride has been frowned upon since the first ‘recollections’ of the Bible/Pentateuch/Qur’an, then why is it 'normal' today?" To be honest, I don't know exactly. I know there are many factors, including influences like our innate biopsychology, certain human drives like the will to power Nietzsche identified, and the development of classical liberalism, secularism, and materialism. Excessive pride has received varying levels of acceptance and rejection throughout human history, but I digress, this is a Facebook note for another time.
If religion says pride is bad, why aren't people living without pride?
"But if excessive pride has been frowned upon since the first ‘recollections’ of the Bible/Pentateuch/Qur’an, then why is it 'normal' today?" To be honest, I don't know exactly. I know there are many factors, including influences like our innate biopsychology, certain human drives like the will to power Nietzsche identified, and the development of classical liberalism, secularism, and materialism. Excessive pride has received varying levels of acceptance and rejection throughout human history, but I digress, this is a Facebook note for another time.
If religion says pride is bad, why aren't people living without pride?
1. You just denounced religion, so do other people. Unless you think that your the only person progressive enough to question religion.
2. If religions don't display pride, then why is the pope's hat so much cooler than mine?
What's important is the harm over-valuing the self creates for the self and for others. There are many reasons to choose humility. There are the basic reasons, such as how excessive pride leads to over-extending yourself, for example, believing and thus trying to do something when you objectively cannot. And there are also the more complex reasons, such as how excessive pride can prevent an individual from adequately appreciating the talents and actions of their peers.
What's important is the harm over-valuing the self creates for the self and for others. There are many reasons to choose humility. There are the basic reasons, such as how excessive pride leads to over-extending yourself, for example, believing and thus trying to do something when you objectively cannot. And there are also the more complex reasons, such as how excessive pride can prevent an individual from adequately appreciating the talents and actions of their peers.
When he reads 'The Little Engine That Could' he gets to the part where the Little Engine is struggling up the hill, decides the engine failed, stops reading and feels smug.
My personal most influential reasons for detesting pride are its emotional effects: jealousy and shame. Jealousy and shame are completely dependent on pride: without pride, neither jealousy or shame exist. For what is jealousy but the over- or under-appreciation of the self relative to others? And shame, the realization of one’s true value.
My personal most influential reasons for detesting pride are its emotional effects: jealousy and shame. Jealousy and shame are completely dependent on pride: without pride, neither jealousy or shame exist. For what is jealousy but the over- or under-appreciation of the self relative to others? And shame, the realization of one’s true value.
You would feel shame if you cheated on your spouse. Is that because someone is proud of something? The same is true of jealousy.
I often find myself minimizing my value within the perspectives of others in order to prevent them from feeling jealousy or shame. I have often questioned the morality of such behavior, but as it stands, ignorance is bliss – in most cases.
"When people don't agree with my arguments, I stop talking and pretend it is to spare them the jealousy of my great intellect and the shame of being proven wrong (A. Douchebag, 2011)."
Of course, this stumbles upon the ethics of suffering and the questions of whether or not there is justifiable suffering – which I believe there is - but I find the ethics of awareness to be completely circumstantial. As my favorite professor states over and over, “A smart person knows when someone is wrong; a wise one knows when to tell them.” (I usually add “and how” to the latter statement)
I often find myself minimizing my value within the perspectives of others in order to prevent them from feeling jealousy or shame. I have often questioned the morality of such behavior, but as it stands, ignorance is bliss – in most cases.
"When people don't agree with my arguments, I stop talking and pretend it is to spare them the jealousy of my great intellect and the shame of being proven wrong (A. Douchebag, 2011)."
Of course, this stumbles upon the ethics of suffering and the questions of whether or not there is justifiable suffering – which I believe there is - but I find the ethics of awareness to be completely circumstantial. As my favorite professor states over and over, “A smart person knows when someone is wrong; a wise one knows when to tell them.” (I usually add “and how” to the latter statement)
If he ever develops a folowing, all who have laughed at him (most who have met him) over the years will experience this justifiable suffering...
All that to say: excessive pride can and will only cause harm to the self and others. However, I’m not suggesting we should all under-value ourselves instead. For under-valuing the self can be just as detrimental to the self and to others as hubris.
Oh so there is a happy medium? Your a bit late in the game to be telling me this...
What this author favours is what the ancient Greeks favoured – nosce te ipsum – Know thyself – that is, value the self for exactly what it’s worth, and thus, do what’s necessary to further realize the self’s true value.
All that to say: excessive pride can and will only cause harm to the self and others. However, I’m not suggesting we should all under-value ourselves instead. For under-valuing the self can be just as detrimental to the self and to others as hubris.
Oh so there is a happy medium? Your a bit late in the game to be telling me this...
What this author favours is what the ancient Greeks favoured – nosce te ipsum – Know thyself – that is, value the self for exactly what it’s worth, and thus, do what’s necessary to further realize the self’s true value.
For a guy who is always talking about being progressive himself, he really wants everyone else to aim low and stay stagnant...[…]
This presents a serious contradiction within my argument and actions. One must do what’s necessary to realize the value of their selves at all times (which includes helping others realize the values of their selves), but I’m minimizing my ability in the perspective of others which prevents them from feeling shame or jealousy: feelings which would eventually cause them to know their selves more accurately. What I’m saying is we have to be tactful, pragmatic, and potentially, gradualist about it.
This presents a serious contradiction within my argument and actions. One must do what’s necessary to realize the value of their selves at all times (which includes helping others realize the values of their selves), but I’m minimizing my ability in the perspective of others which prevents them from feeling shame or jealousy: feelings which would eventually cause them to know their selves more accurately. What I’m saying is we have to be tactful, pragmatic, and potentially, gradualist about it.
"All I'm saying is I know people better than they know themselves. I'll let them feel shame, when they're ready to. Until then I will just silently judge them (A. Douchebag, 2011)."[…]
Those trying to be good, virtuous, etc. are subject to a paradox. They pursue the good by all available means, all the while, they must minimize their actions as valuing good actions and taking them has the potential to tempt them to hubris.
By his own summary, no one can be good without being to proud. So how can he think he is so good? Join us next time when he tells people that dieting is pointless since it makes you uglier as a complete person.Those trying to be good, virtuous, etc. are subject to a paradox. They pursue the good by all available means, all the while, they must minimize their actions as valuing good actions and taking them has the potential to tempt them to hubris.
Cheers.
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