Are your friends your peers on intellect, knowledge, etc? (jealous, person, brother)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Please don't flame me for this. I'm not trying to be stuck-up.
I am aware that there are many people with more degrees, more intelligence, and more life experience & wisdom than I have. I've met folks who went to Harvard Law, Harvard JFK School of Government, MIT and MIT grad, etc... so I know smart people.
However, I try to stay informed. I read the news a lot, and in more than one language. I take a particular interest in current events, and subscribe and read Time, Foreign Affairs, and Foreign Policy. that in addition to various bloggers on issues I particularly find interesting.
So what happens is that w/ some of the friends and acquaintances I have, I've spoken on issues that we are all aware of and I come up with what some may deem as "unusual facts," but they are unusual precisely because one wouldn't know them unless one follows the news closely. I've been met w/ snickers (sometimes in good fun and sometimes, I believe, in arrogant condescension)... but the many instances of interaction I've had with them clearly shows to me that they not read that much - which means they could not possibly know better.
One or two have openly said, "don't argue w/ Sprawling on this kind of stuff, he knows what he's talking about." But by and large, it's as if some people cannot accept that their peers would have extensive knowledge on certain things - and also as if one should only talk if one has advanced degrees, which I don't. I've even wondered if this kind of conduct may stem from them resenting me, in that they may internally recognize I know my stuff and that I'm smart, but that openly, they would never admit it.
I don't know if I'm making sense, and again, I'm not trying to appear superior to anybody. But more often than not, the people I come across act this way.
Well I do not think going to school makes you a smart person...I have met plenty of educated d.a.s
But I see this reaction a lot from people who:
- never have been to any higher learning and do not realize a paper on the wall can mean nothing
- have been to higher learning and think they know everything
For example I used a word that an "educated" person did not understand and they made a scene about it..Which started everyone laughing around them...I told them the definition and I never have seen anyone more embarassed. I would not of been that way if he was not a jerk over it. Do you think you are being jerky or snotty about it at all? I do notice this reaction too when people get that "mother tone" when talking about anything.
But I would confront whoever on the laughing. Thats just rude.
This behavior has nothing to do with education. It has to do with being an a-hole.
I don't know why people act like this. But I know people who think that if they haven't heard of it, it doesn't exist.
Whatever. Those people are a waste of time.
Well I do not think going to school makes you a smart person...I have met plenty of educated d.a.s
But I see this reaction a lot from people who:
- never have been to any higher learning and do not realize a paper on the wall can mean nothing
- have been to higher learning and think they know everything
For example I used a word that an "educated" person did not understand and they made a scene about it..Which started everyone laughing around them...I told them the definition and I never have seen anyone more embarassed. I would not of been that way if he was not a jerk over it. Do you think you are being jerky or snotty about it at all? I do notice this reaction too when people get that "mother tone" when talking about anything.
But I would confront whoever on the laughing. Thats just rude.
No, I'm not "jerky." I'm known for being polite amongst these folks.
The irony is that some of the stuff I've spoken about involves the history of the home country of some of these folks. They say I don't know what I'm talking about not only because that's not what they were taught, but also because I'm not from there unlike them. This flies in the face of logic - don't we, after all, have experts on Arab culture or on the history of given Middle Eastern countries who are born & bred WASP Americans, for example?
This behavior has nothing to do with education. It has to do with being an a-hole.
I don't know why people act like this. But I know people who think that if they haven't heard of it, it doesn't exist.
Whatever. Those people are a waste of time.
Likely.
However, a person from a foreign country whose current events I tend to read up on, told me that the reason a lot of her countrypersons react thusly to what I say is that they resent me for knowing more than them even though I'm not from there. Jealousy, in other words.
Could be... some people, you wonder why they act the way they do.
Well written culture can be twisted and you do really experience a more detail level of how it is when you are living there. BUT....never in my life has anyone confirmed to exactly what was written. You may find a funny read in "what white people like" Its pretty funny. I would approach it as "Well why don't you tell me what it is like instead of laughing and being rude?"
It really depends what you are talking about with history too. Countries of all types will glamorize thier own history and some demonize other countries.
Well I do not think going to school makes you a smart person...I have met plenty of educated d.a.s
But I see this reaction a lot from people who:
- never have been to any higher learning and do not realize a paper on the wall can mean nothing
- have been to higher learning and think they know everything
For example I used a word that an "educated" person did not understand and they made a scene about it..Which started everyone laughing around them...I told them the definition and I never have seen anyone more embarassed. I would not of been that way if he was not a jerk over it. Do you think you are being jerky or snotty about it at all? I do notice this reaction too when people get that "mother tone" when talking about anything.
But I would confront whoever on the laughing. Thats just rude.
Please don't flame me for this. I'm not trying to be stuck-up.
I am aware that there are many people with more degrees, more intelligence, and more life experience & wisdom than I have. I've met folks who went to Harvard Law, Harvard JFK School of Government, MIT and MIT grad, etc... so I know smart people.
However, I try to stay informed. I read the news a lot, and in more than one language. I take a particular interest in current events, and subscribe and read Time, Foreign Affairs, and Foreign Policy. that in addition to various bloggers on issues I particularly find interesting.
I've even wondered if this kind of conduct may stem from them resenting me, in that they may internally recognize I know my stuff and that I'm smart, but that openly, they would never admit it.
I don't know if I'm making sense, and again, I'm not trying to appear superior to anybody. But more often than not, the people I come across act this way.
if someone has a passion for a topic, and knows interesting details about the subject, and share them in conversation with enthusiasm, then I like their enthusiasm and passion, and enjoy being around them
if someone has the attitude that they are superior because of what they read or know, or they are trying to impress people with their knowledge or big words in a showy offy way, then they are an arrogant jacka$s, and are no fun to be around
so for me it's more their attitude and intention in sharing with others what they know, than what they know that is important to me, and what is offensive behavior.
in your post you make a point to avoid the whole snob thing, but it's there and you know it is there. That you even notice, label, judge and categorize people by how smart they are and where they went to school, and what topic they know something about, shows that you yourself determine a person's worth by that, including your own worth.
If it didn't matter to you, you wouldn't notice it. It would not be on the radar screen at all.
My experience has been that people who are arrogant and snobby DO try to impress others by name-dropping and showing off their knowledge and degrees (like in this post is an example). Or they are people who yearn to have those things for themselves, they think it "makes them a better person" which is really very poignant. I had a friend who has been on her own since age 15 (we were friends in our 40s) and she still thinks if she could use "big fancy college words" she would be a better person. That is really sad, that people devalue themselves in that way.
I am more impressed by someone who doesn't go around trying to impress others. It is a quiet poise, an inner strength, less is more.
Last edited by Tzaphkiel; 07-22-2009 at 04:42 PM..
My brother and I had an ongoing (decades long) disagreement about this. He claims if a person doesn't read the newspaper and stay up on current events, they are stupid and deficient as a human being. He wants no part of such inferior slime. I am someone who consciously chooses not to read newspapers or follow current events (for close to 20 years now). He judges people and determines their worth and value as a human being, on how well read they are on current events. I think he is exceedingly arrogant and snobby and virulent to be around. He wants no part of me, and I want no part of him.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
