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I'm arrogant beyond belief and a self-absorbed asshole. I'm absolutely comfortable with that and feel no need to change. I can point out multiple situations in

I'm arrogant beyond belief and a self-absorbed asshole. I'm absolutely comfortable with that and feel no need to change. I can point out multiple situations in my personal life where this has been massively advantageous for my own psychology. By the way, some of the most valuable people in our societies are borderline horrible arrogant narcissists. I don't see people not using the knowledge that Isaac Newton shared with us, because he was a horrible person... I honestly think that if he saw a shrink and worked on "his issues" (by today's standards) he would have lobotomized himself. Nietzsche had a good intuition about people that optimize for full manifestation of the self in reality, but was kind of naive what qualities these people would exhibit. It is the entire package, not only the "good parts" (by today's standards)

emrah 5y ago
> By the way, some of the most valuable people in our societies are borderline horrible arrogant narcissists. I don't know if there is any data/research on being successful or valuable requiring an arrogant narcissistic personality. I believe it doesn't. If anything, such people became successful despite having such difficult personalities.
- hvasilev 5y ago
  The "difficult" in difficult personality is not for themselves, it is for everyone else. It is not necessity for being successful or valuable, but it is undeniable that people like that exist throughout history. At the most fundamental level: It is arrogant to believe that from purely biological point of view, an individual would posses qualities like "arrogant" that are of no possible value. Societies need to believe certain things to function. You cannot have a society where each individual is like Isaac Newton. I'm sure that if you asked the people that were knew him, they would say that "one is more than enough..."
  - dudeman13 5y ago
    >It is arrogant to believe that from purely biological point of view, an individual would posses qualities (like "arrogant") that are of no possible value Why?
- watwut 5y ago
  Narcissistic people are more charismatic st first. They are good at attracting attention to them and get celebrated even if they stole half the ideas. Creating a lot and getting a lot of attention are two different things.
onion2k 5y ago
Newton died with no friends, he was celibate his whole life, and he never travelled farther than about 100 miles from where he was born. He was rightly recognized for his contribution to math in his 20s, but by the time he was in his 30s he'd removed himself from the scientific community and spent all his time studying alchemy and the bible. You believe that it was necessary for him to be a dick in the pursuit of genius; I think the outcome of his "full manifestation of the self" meant that society benefited from 10 years of his singular effort and then lost out on the next 50 years because no one would work with him, and his peers actually laughed at him for his (entirely wrong) approach to the theory of what light is. Boyle and Hooke accused him of stealing their ideas on optics. The fact Newton was an asshole, and people let him be an asshole, robbed us all of 80% of what he might have achieved if he'd been a bit nicer.
- hvasilev 5y ago
  You're saying that if he was not the asshole that he was, he would have achieved more. I'm saying that if he pretended not to be the asshole that he was, he would have achieved nothing. You cannot go against your own nature. It requires too much energy and does not work, it lobotomizes you.
  - TuringTest 5y ago
    You're saying that your nature predestines you to be in a particular way, and that being an asshole is just something that you are. In reality, your way of being is shaped by your life learning, of which your way of relating to those around you is a part.
    - hvasilev 5y ago
      Kids come with different personalities right out of the box, ask anyone with more than one kid. You've bought into some liberal propaganda that people are fully malleable objects. We are not. It is a combination between nature and nurture. I personally believe it is significantly more "nature" in this case. There are certain aspects of your personality, like "arrogance", that the society might find unacceptable. That doesn't mean that they are bad for you or that you can change them.
Apocryphon 5y ago
Newton wasted a lot of time on pursuits such as alchemy and mapping out the geography of hell. Not to mention surely some of his contemporaries would have came across many of his discoveries- the much better socially-adjusted Leibniz did, after all.
gexla 5y ago
Isn't arrogant and narcissist describing two completely different things? Narcissism is social. You can be an arrogant asshole and become and hermit. A narcissist wouldn't choose to be a hermit, because that person feeds off interactions with others. My problem with the idea of being "arrogant and a self-absorbed asshole" is that it smells like identity. Taking on strong identity can be a problem, as we see with identity politics. I feel a better path through life is to keep identity small and be more creative on being adaptive. As I said in another comment, the author is going into the party in a frame of "seeking intellectual conversation." Another person at the party may have attended in the frame of "seeking a hook-up." Both may have been similarly disappointed. A better approach is to be be creative and adaptable. We have forgot how to play. I feel that having a default frame would be problem for me. Being adaptable is just more fun. Being arrogant may be effective in certain situations, but a problem for others. One of my favorite playgrounds is the British pub cultural thing of "taking the piss." That's where someone you're talking to at the bar just starts ripping into you. I LOVE that, and I usually surprise them at being better at it than they are. An arrogant frame in this situation would leave you wide open.
andrepd 5y ago
>I'm arrogant beyond belief and a self-absorbed asshole. I'm absolutely comfortable with that and feel no need to change. I can point out multiple situations in my personal life where this has been massively advantageous for my own psychology. I'm a thief. I'm comfortable with that and feel no need to change. I can point out multiple situations where this was advantageous to me. >By the way, some of the most valuable people in our societies are borderline horrible arrogant narcissists. Nah, this is just the standard /r/iamverysmart drivel: you basically are so superior to everyone else that any interaction with the inferior masses leaves you so annoyed that you have to lash out like an asshole. Probably popularised by depictions of the """genius"" like Sheldon on Big Bang Theory, Zuck on Social Network, or that Steve Jobs flick. In reality unless you truly are massively wealthy or influential nobody will stand for your bullshit. The most competent and intelligent people I've found are also nearly always the most humble and the best communicators.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]

emrah 5y ago

> By the way, some of the most valuable people in our societies are borderline horrible arrogant narcissists. I don't know if there is any data/research on being successful or valuable requiring an arrogant narcissistic personality. I believe it doesn't. If anything, such people became successful despite having such difficult personalities.

hvasilev 5y ago
The "difficult" in difficult personality is not for themselves, it is for everyone else. It is not necessity for being successful or valuable, but it is undeniable that people like that exist throughout history. At the most fundamental level: It is arrogant to believe that from purely biological point of view, an individual would posses qualities like "arrogant" that are of no possible value. Societies need to believe certain things to function. You cannot have a society where each individual is like Isaac Newton. I'm sure that if you asked the people that were knew him, they would say that "one is more than enough..."
- dudeman13 5y ago
  >It is arrogant to believe that from purely biological point of view, an individual would posses qualities (like "arrogant") that are of no possible value Why?
watwut 5y ago
Narcissistic people are more charismatic st first. They are good at attracting attention to them and get celebrated even if they stole half the ideas. Creating a lot and getting a lot of attention are two different things.

onion2k 5y ago

Newton died with no friends, he was celibate his whole life, and he never travelled farther than about 100 miles from where he was born. He was rightly recognized for his contribution to math in his 20s, but by the time he was in his 30s he'd removed himself from the scientific community and spent all his time studying alchemy and the bible. You believe that it was necessary for him to be a dick in the pursuit of genius; I think the outcome of his "full manifestation of the self" meant that society benefited from 10 years of his singular effort and then lost out on the next 50 years because no one would work with him, and his peers actually laughed at him for his (entirely wrong) approach to the theory of what light is. Boyle and Hooke accused him of stealing their ideas on optics. The fact Newton was an asshole, and people let him be an asshole, robbed us all of 80% of what he might have achieved if he'd been a bit nicer.

hvasilev 5y ago
You're saying that if he was not the asshole that he was, he would have achieved more. I'm saying that if he pretended not to be the asshole that he was, he would have achieved nothing. You cannot go against your own nature. It requires too much energy and does not work, it lobotomizes you.
- TuringTest 5y ago
  You're saying that your nature predestines you to be in a particular way, and that being an asshole is just something that you are. In reality, your way of being is shaped by your life learning, of which your way of relating to those around you is a part.
  - hvasilev 5y ago
    Kids come with different personalities right out of the box, ask anyone with more than one kid. You've bought into some liberal propaganda that people are fully malleable objects. We are not. It is a combination between nature and nurture. I personally believe it is significantly more "nature" in this case. There are certain aspects of your personality, like "arrogance", that the society might find unacceptable. That doesn't mean that they are bad for you or that you can change them.

Apocryphon 5y ago

Newton wasted a lot of time on pursuits such as alchemy and mapping out the geography of hell. Not to mention surely some of his contemporaries would have came across many of his discoveries- the much better socially-adjusted Leibniz did, after all.

gexla 5y ago

Isn't arrogant and narcissist describing two completely different things? Narcissism is social. You can be an arrogant asshole and become and hermit. A narcissist wouldn't choose to be a hermit, because that person feeds off interactions with others. My problem with the idea of being "arrogant and a self-absorbed asshole" is that it smells like identity. Taking on strong identity can be a problem, as we see with identity politics. I feel a better path through life is to keep identity small and be more creative on being adaptive. As I said in another comment, the author is going into the party in a frame of "seeking intellectual conversation." Another person at the party may have attended in the frame of "seeking a hook-up." Both may have been similarly disappointed. A better approach is to be be creative and adaptable. We have forgot how to play. I feel that having a default frame would be problem for me. Being adaptable is just more fun. Being arrogant may be effective in certain situations, but a problem for others. One of my favorite playgrounds is the British pub cultural thing of "taking the piss." That's where someone you're talking to at the bar just starts ripping into you. I LOVE that, and I usually surprise them at being better at it than they are. An arrogant frame in this situation would leave you wide open.

andrepd 5y ago

>I'm arrogant beyond belief and a self-absorbed asshole. I'm absolutely comfortable with that and feel no need to change. I can point out multiple situations in my personal life where this has been massively advantageous for my own psychology. I'm a thief. I'm comfortable with that and feel no need to change. I can point out multiple situations where this was advantageous to me. >By the way, some of the most valuable people in our societies are borderline horrible arrogant narcissists. Nah, this is just the standard /r/iamverysmart drivel: you basically are so superior to everyone else that any interaction with the inferior masses leaves you so annoyed that you have to lash out like an asshole. Probably popularised by depictions of the """genius"" like Sheldon on Big Bang Theory, Zuck on Social Network, or that Steve Jobs flick. In reality unless you truly are massively wealthy or influential nobody will stand for your bullshit. The most competent and intelligent people I've found are also nearly always the most humble and the best communicators.

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]