Is excessive arrogance an Aspie trait, or is it just me?

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I think that the problem is not just "being right" about something but the way that we express it. Since we are generally blunt and socially awkward, it can be really easy to sound arrogant or rude even when we don't mean to be. We should always express our opinions but in a way that doesn't come off as feeling superior to everyone else.

i've had problems because of my unintentional arrogance before, unfortunately i have severe depression aswell which you'd think would balance everything out, but doesn't (slight sarcasm).
I can go from feeling like i'm the greatest, invincible, unstoppable, the answer to all the world's problems, to feeling totally useless, feeling like a burden on everyone i know, and hating myself, and the change can happen in the blink of an eye for no apparent reason. The worst is when you start feeling guilty about feeling bad, then that goes and you're left feeling guilty about the fact you were feeling guilty because you still tell yourself there's nothing wrong with you. Next you start analysing your feelings and feel bad because you felt bad about feeling guilty about feeling bad. It makes your head spin and no matter how hard you try you can't think about anything else, you just keep repeating the never ending (and pointless) arguments in your head about yourself.
I berate myself when i'm feeling i'm amazing about something, and then i do the same when i'm feeling bad!

Anyway, you'll probably be surprised to hear that i don't think i'm bipolar! I have feelings in the midranges but can definitely (though thankfully only occassionally) swing emotionally to an extreme.

BTW, apologies if part of the post doesn't make sense. Sometimes the whole point of what gets me frustrated is the fact that i can't explain what gets me frustrated!

I have never taken a psychology class, and am only now coming to grips with this disorder which I apparently have.

I really don't know what the definition of Asperger's Syndrome or Autism are, other than that we are weird to varying degrees. But, everyone is weird in his own way.

But, on this topic, I think that Aspies tend to focus more inward than outward. The inward focus may tend to make us more inclined to Narcissism. I found an interesting article here:

http://www.halcyon.com/jmashmun/npd/howto.html

My psychologist also said that I was narcissistic (among a lot of other things that aren't very flattering). But, okay, we have to deal with it somehow.

Here are the 12 traits of a Narcissist:

http://www.halcyon.com/jmashmun/npd/traits.html

I have had to deal with people who were much more Narcissistic than I am, and they can be extremely unpleasant and baffling.

I felt arrogant when I started to question Object Oriented Methodology in system development. What would I know about that. I done a few open source project but I never worked in the industry.

When started to criticize the methodology on a website Java Ranch not everyone agreed. I was like many people understand of OOP was faith driven, and they were not logical thinkers at all.

A few years later I learned to use Google search engines magic word Myth. I typed “object oriented” “myth” and found a site that agreed with me.

http://www.geocities.com/tablizer/oopbad.htm

I am wondering if the great American architect Frank Lloyd Wright was an Aspie, as he was famous for his arrogance and social detachment from people (including his own family). One of his famous quotes goes something like this: "I prefer honest arrogance to hypocritical humility." That sounds like an Aspie statement to me!

I find great resonance with the topic of this thread. I have some thoughts on it:

It seems to me that NTs see knowledge as a means to an end. Specifically, that end is what I've heard referred to as "experience sharing." In other words, NTs use knowledge to increase their social capital. Which is why, I believe, there is so much disinformation passing as legitimate knowledge in the world. It is also why special and complex knowledge takes so long to promulgate into the general population.

Aspies, on the other hand, see knowledge as an end to itself. The example upthread (forgive me commenter, I don't remember your handle) of the guy who argued about Atlas with his girlfriend strikes me as particularly illuminating. She saw the discussion as a way to get closer; he saw it as a way to communicate the details of the subject.

Given this state of affairs, one can see how NTs would view aspies as arrogant. I think it's a misnomer. Arrogance implies social status, whereas I think aspies are just obsessed with accuracy.

I wonder if the arrogance is really a self-esteem issue... the early years of constant social faux pas, the rejection (perceived or otherwise), the hurt and the anger

If there is no self-awareness, no true understanding of one's place in the world, then there is going to be trouble. For if you have no self-awareness how can you understand other people? I believe it all stems from there

This sounds like a post I would make, MINUS the anger...but maybe a little frustration.
I use people as experiments, find out what they don't like about themselves, and slyly manipulate their mindset to correct these deficiencies (of course, these just happen to be guys who I take a relationship with). I think they deserve love and shouldn't go through what I've been through, so I fix their confidence, style, communication skills, etc., and they never even know it.

The frustration comes into play when their ego explodes, and they begin to hurt me, taking stabs at my personal quirks. I wonder why I continue doing this, but in a way, I feel like the puppeteer, yet inevitably Pinocchio becomes a real boy and severs his ties. Still, I feel proud that, eventhough they hurt me, they are no longer the shy, recluse, awkward, confused, low self-esteem, angry children that they initially were. They have been formed into NT as*holes.

I totally agree. My man and I get into the most ridiculous arguments and my motivation is usually simply to get a definition right or some detail that he said that was inaccurate. Even if I agree with his general idea, I cannot let go of any inaccuracy or even if he presents it in an illogical (to me) way. His NT mind thinks it's something personal, that I don't want to listen and gets really upset over it while I usually don't understand why. He keeps saying I'm patronizing him.

Here's an example. I live in a great neighbourhood and he lives in a neighbourhood that used to be very bad and has been slowly improving but is still one of the worst in the anglo part of town. He was once driving home and mentioned that there was the local hooker. I said that was what he should expect in the ghetto. He laughed and then proceeded to tell me I lived in a ghetto because someone had stolen my daughter's stroller. Instead of seeing it as a joke or whatever, I had to make a lengthy argument about the history and current social conditions of our hoods. I was online checking the median income and crime rates and taking it way too seriously. He kept trying to object and tell me to let go and stuff like 'I like my neighbourhood, therefore it's not a ghetto'. It ended in me calling him an idiot and other things like that, telling his ignorant ass to educate himself before trying to tell me anything.

I came off as very arrogant that day.

He also studies with the goal of advancing his career or some other well-defined reason while I just love to learn. Can you believe this guy actually consciously makes an effort not to remember things he considers useless! I don't get it because to me, learning is an end in itself, I don't need a reason to make a mental note of anything.

Anyway, if you guys are anything like me, ignorance and inaccuracy annoy you beyond reason and that has to make you arrogant, condescending, patronizing or whatever.

So much so that I even own a dog that is characterized as aloof.