I know it’s a cliche. It’s one of the hoariest out there. But an old chestnut retains its value no matter its age. That it’s been around so long without being falsified speaks to its verity. That so many people repeat it so often speaks to the fact that so many people understand it and think it is an important fact about quotidian existence.
This way of thinking – the superior people versus the inferior people – is not a healthy way of thinking. You’re locked into this resentful rage all the time, and you spend every day of your life going on and on about why you are better than some other group of people.
You see, deep down inside, I think I am great. And that’s more or less independent of everything. I’d feel that way if I were homeless or in prison. As it’s not dependent on anything, I don’t have constantly go around listing the 101 ways I am better than others on this or that variable (which I am). What’s the point? I’ve got nothing to prove.
To me, the evidence speaks for itself. I exist, therefore I am hot shit. It’s not rational, and it’s certainly not provable by science, so the scientistic crowd will insist it’s a lie, but it’s just the way I feel. I don’t need to do 100 damned controlled double blind studies to figure out if I am hot shit or not. I simply am, and that’s all there is to it.
I walk into a room, and that fact right there – my existence in that room at that point in time – proves that there is now at least one hot shit guy in the room, that being me. I feel this should be obvious just by perceiving me. If others look at me and don’t think I’m hot shit, to me, they’re just not getting it, and that’s their loss.
Anyway, my feelings are not dependent on them. And this is crucial. We all need the approval of others, and every extrovert who told you that he didn’t need that is a liar. That said, you can’t trade good, solid, independent self-esteem for all the gold in the world. It is literally an irreplaceable resource.
We get into the whole knocking people down to your level, which is also terribly trite, but the wisdom of elders is precisely that because it survived the test of time and generational heterogeneity. There’s something solid there – a real fact, hard and sharp as a diamond, about a core reality of human existence.
Bottom line is I think this whole “I am superior and these people are inferior” is a most unpleasant way to walk through life. Actually it is a rather ugly way to move through life. Sit back and think about it. Does this sound like fun? Being filled with rage towards inferiors all the time? What’s so fun about that? That sounds like a drag to me.