[quote=briansd1][quote=Ricechex]
Davelj is an arrogant man, and that is not attractive. You on the other hand, seem like a nice guy. Nice guys do finish first.[/quote]
davelj is not arrogant. He’s confident. He speaks the honest truth rather than mince words. That’s admirable in my opinion.
I would agree with scaredcat’s assessment on attraction. I would say that confidence is attractive.[/quote]
Personally, I think arrogant is the wrong adjective.
Arrogant is defined as “making claims or pretensions to superior importance or rights; overbearingly assuming; insolently proud.”
If anything I consider myself quite unimportant personally and, in the larger scheme of things, the human race (and Planet Earth, etc.) as rather unimportant as well. I am and we are irrelevant (but we do have lives to lead). This is the opposite of arrogance.
I think someone’s mistaking arrogance with an understanding of self. I know myself, probably to a greater degree than most folks know themselves. To the extent that anything can truly be “known,” I know what I know, and I know what I don’t know. I readily acknowledge my limitations – which are considerable – I don’t pretend to know something about everything. I know what I like and what I don’t like, and to a greater degree than most I don’t allow social or cultural pressures to influence either.
Most importantly, unlike most people, I don’t have a deep desire to be “liked.” I go to great lengths to attempt to maintain the respect of my professional peers, but I don’t care if they like me or not (and many do not, I can assure you). So I tend to be direct and speak my mind, regardless of how someone might feel about it. And I think it’s this aspect of my personality that’s being confused with arrogance.
Having said all that, if someone still wants to think of me as arrogant, then so be it.
