Tuesday, September 9, 2008

A like-minded individual

How difficult is it truly to find someone who share an incredible amount of similar perspectives with you? I would say it is extremely difficult since until today, I have never, and I mean it when I say never, met anyone who shared my perspectives and interest in movies. That is, like I said, not until today. I met someone who was able to share some of the same views that I had, and the most important thing was that the person could actually understand everything I was saying without me having to explain it. I doubt that person felt as much of a connection as I did because I was truly never able to communicate so well with another individual before.

However, I still wonder if this is truly the case or I am just trying to believe that I have connected with someone because my solitary habits has finally caught up with me.

Initially I spoke to this person because I wanted to find out whether he thought everyone around him was a dumbass. I guess I didn't really get an answer in the end but still it allowed me to know more about this person. We ended up talking more about various different things, mostly regarding the definition of intelligence.

I think that personally all of us has a sense of superiority that we project towards others when we believe we are superior in that field. This usually takes place subconsciously. I don't think that it is arrogance, but rather, a fundamental to the essence of teaching. Before someone is willing to listen to you, he/she must have a certain amount of respect for you to to give some thought to whatever you say. The more respect he/she has for you, the more she/he will think you are right. This methodology applies in most schools, from elementary school to high school, we are perceived to think that our teachers are unparalled in their field. This is our form of respect, no matter how much we detest them, we believe that a chemistry teacher knows a lot about chemistry, a physics teacher knows a lot about physics and so on and thus we build a subconscious sense of inferiority towards the teacher. If the teacher does not have a sense of superiority, regarding his field, over his students, he would not have the confidence to teach the students and if the student does not have a sense of inferiority towards the teacher, the student will not bother to listen at all because he will assume that his answer holds more weight than his teacher. Hence, without this balance, the whole concept of teaching will fail.

So what does all this nonsense mean? It means that it is not arrogant to think that you are better than someone in a certain aspect, especially when you think you are good at it while that person has no knowledge of it. I personally think arrogance only applies if you perceive yourself to be superior regardless of facts.

5 comments:

Miao 妙 said...

One can still be said to be arrogant even if all facts show that he is indeed highly talented or intelligent insofar as he belittles others.

Miao 妙 said...

Anyway, I think we have a lot of differences.

Coro said...

Someone mentioned the same thing to me before, that a person should still be considered arrogant so long as he projects a rude image of superiority. I agree but I was actually talking more about the mentality that sets a sense of arrogance rather than the physical projection of arrogance.

I think we share alot of differences but also a lot similarities on a number of things, much more than anyone I have met anyway.

Unknown said...

Is it necessary for the feeling of superiority for education to take place? I admit it makes things easier for knowledge to pass down. At later stages of education, as a human develops a more questioning mind, such dynamics of superiority/inferiority lead more to stagnation of the mind.

Coro said...

I meant the teaching concept in general. If you digress to other stuff like discussions, it's a different thing altogether.

2 Harvard Professors might learn something from each other even if they argue and disagree, but it would definitely be easier to learn if one of them believed the other was right. Hence the teaching concept.