Is it normal to feel superior

67% Normal
7 Comments

Growing up, my parents taught me that I am better than other people. I know, this might sound terribly narcissistic (maybe it is, hence the question) but in a way I've always considered it a good thing.

Of course, "better than other people" has to be qualified. The message is not that everyone else is useless and only I matter. Naturally, in certain aspects of life (such as athleticism to name but one) there are many other people who are better than me and I should recognise and accept that. The real message is that, I have what it takes to excel in life. So I should not compare myself to the average person, I should strive to compare myself with exceptional people. And don't we all want to be Neil Armstrongs rather than Scully Scumbuckets?

This philosophy has permeated many facets of my life. In school and varsity I always compared my academic achievements to those of the achievers, not to the class average. In sport I did the same and I didn't measure up so I basically focused my attention on academic and cultural activities where I could measure up to the great achievers and I had less of an interest in sport.

In adult life, I find that I make life decisions based on this philosophy as well and when I find that my taste in music, my professional aspirations or my hobbies are not quite in line with what most people do, I often fall back on "Well, I'm not an average person so it shouldn't be surprising that I don't do average things". And when it comes to matters of ethics and morals, I try to set higher standards for myself than the average man would set.

On the instances where I've verbalised this philosophy in friendly conversation, it's always come across as misplaced vanity and that's not what I'm trying to be. But I can't help to think that average people are happy with average. If I were to consider myself above average, I should not settle for average tastes, average mindsets, average ethics or average aspirations.

Now that I'm a parent and I have to instill a certain measure of self worth in my son, I have to ask the question;

Is this normal?

Voting Results
67% Normal
Based on 46 votes (31 yes)
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Comments ( 7 )
  • NeuroNeptunian
    9 years ago

    This reminds me of an ex I had. He constantly talked about how smart he was, how hard working he was, how he was so clever and everyone else was average, dull and quite stupid.

    Ultimately, he had little but a few good years in the Navy, a community college AS in Business and a 30 hour a week job stocking shelves at the home depot. He once got into an argument with a man who is, quite literally, able to build a house, a car, perform surgery on animals etc. And the latter man can't spell for shit. He told this man that he was unintelligent due to his poor spelling and needed to "educate himself" and looked down on him purely due to his spelling. Any little imperfection a person sports is reason enough for him to look down on them, as he watches TV and drinks sodas all day with his cats while sexting high school girls he meets on the net.

    Thinking highly of yourself is not a bad thing. Being a fat, lame fucking dick about it is.

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  • Captain_Kegstand
    9 years ago

    I think it is just fine, as long as you don't treat other people like they are less than you. It is good to push yourself by competing with continuously better people, in what field you happen to be in.

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  • Mekkars
    9 years ago

    I don't see the need of having to compare yourself with others it's pointless no one is gonna be the same as you be it inferior or superior.

    Just go about your business doing the best you can and have no regrets.

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  • green_boogers
    9 years ago

    Good for you. At some point consider being a coach or teacher that is better than other coaches or teachers. Live up to your own expectations thereby making the world a better place.

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  • dom180
    9 years ago

    Yes, and positive thinking is good.

    I think it's even more ideal to not compare yourself to anyone. Everyone has what it takes, so the message shouldn't be "you can be better than other people" but the more simple "you can do good".

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  • ㅤㅤㅤ
    9 years ago

    Lucky. I wish I knew how it felt to feel how you do. I'm the opposite, I feel inferior and hate myself. Strange, my parents didn't raise me this way, so I'm not sure where the feeling came from.

    I second green_boogers, if I could hire you to be a self esteem coach or something, I would.

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  • [Old Memory]
    9 years ago

    I think its good. Too many people have low self esteem and their biggest problem is their own perception.

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