Is Arrogance and Self-Superiority an Aspie trait?

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MannyBoo
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09 Mar 2013, 8:10 am

Is it?

"Feeling different" is a common thing people say. Well not only have i felt different, but to be honest, i also felt "better" than the people around me. More intelligent, more creative, seeing patterns they can't, etc...

When i look at it objectively, this is obviously an arrogant way of thinking. This has contributed to me losing friends in the past. I am not a bad person, i love people, i totally believe in equality of all people, but admittedly, i also have feelings of self-superiority. It is a contradiction, so i am wondering about it.



sackcoat
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09 Mar 2013, 8:16 am

I pretty much feel the same. In my university classes I spend most of my time wondering how people could possibly be so ignorant and fearing the fact that many of them will in fact get degrees and go on to do important jobs in society. Some of the most ignorant I have seen are in training to be teachers, which scares me even more. I don't mean to be arrogant, and I work really hard not to be, but I still often have these superiority issues. I don't know if it's an aspie thing or not... but I do indeed share this trait.



HeyimJoel
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09 Mar 2013, 8:31 am

Probably I sometimes feel the same



Chazzle
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09 Mar 2013, 9:06 am

Yeh I get a bit of this, a lot of the time I feel like everyone else is doing it 'wrong' and I look down on that for the want of a better expression. I'd hate to be thought of as arrogant but I do understand what you mean, I also feel like I have some superior insight into the way things work and that everyone else is just like lost in a rat race and have no self awareness and my self awareness also makes me feel a bit superior... hmm if that made any sense :roll:


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BlackSabre7
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09 Mar 2013, 9:26 am

You know, I was just about to blast you and say that just because you are better than someone at some things, it does not make you a better or more worthy person. I do believe that in principle.
But if I am going to honest with myself, I do have days when I kind of feel that.
I think I am honest, and try to be honourable, I am creative and can pretty much learn anything, if I put my mind to it, I am smart, musical, artistic, inventive, resourceful, blah blah blah.
But I don't know how many other people also think that way, and I can't assess what someone else's capabilities really are, just judging by what they say. I am really only familiar with how one person thinks - me.
And I also get days when I think I am useless, stupid, a failure, wrong about so many things, that no-one likes me, that no-one loves me and everything I do is wrong.

I would say most days I do not feel superior.



kouzoku
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09 Mar 2013, 9:30 am

I feel this, too. Should I feel ashamed about my feeling of superiority? That's something I think about often. :oops:

There are some NTs who everyone can learn from, though. I respect sharing of knowledge to a great extent and will learn from anyone I trust. Especially some remarkable NTs who have courage not to follow their peers. Not all NTs are idiots.



CockneyRebel
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09 Mar 2013, 9:33 am

I don't feel this way at all. I feel that I'm an equal amongst my fellow humans whether they're NT, on the spectrum or they have some other disability.


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TheValk
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09 Mar 2013, 9:45 am

I think it's a defensive mechanism to compensate for some of our glaring shortcomings.



HeyimJoel
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09 Mar 2013, 9:55 am

Heaps of NT's think they are better than everyone as well



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09 Mar 2013, 11:54 am

Yes, but I thought you were going to mention it in the more extreme sense that I've read about.

Even at times when I haven't been self confident in the least bit, I've been accused of being arrogant & it's confused me. Some NT's will have found something I've said to be arrogant, whereas I just found it to be a logical matter of fact and didn't imply it as me being superior and others inferior.

As for the extreme sense, I've read that some can have the trait of feeling god-like and that they're to be worshipped & respected etc. Apparently this can lead to becoming CEO types in business.


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Urist
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09 Mar 2013, 11:58 am

I used to feel that I was superior to other people when I was about 12 - 13, but more recently I've just decided that I'm different in a way that isn't better or worse than them. Increasingly understanding people through the simplicity of text has left me unable to view myself as better than others. I think people still get that impression sometimes, but I'm just naturally rather aloof.



paris75007
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09 Mar 2013, 12:13 pm

I think the perceived arrogance of Aspies is due to our inability, when we ARE smarter than the majority of the population, to conceal this fact like an NT would, by adjusting the level of conversation to compensate for the other person. Someone with an IQ of 130 will be smarter (as is measured by the medical profession) than 98% of the people they come across. It doesn't make them "better" than the 98% who are not as smart, but somehow it is an undesirable trait to even have the feeling that one is smarter, even if you actually are smarter. I don't understand the NT tendency to think that everyone must be equal in all things, and get mad when they can't compete intellectually. They can go use their gifts, like being able to open doors in life by making people like them, and I'll use mine. Why don't we ever say they are being arrogant about their social skills when they make us feel lesser than them in that area?



Joe90
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09 Mar 2013, 12:16 pm

Uh, uh, no way - I'm the opposite. I've always felt worse than everyone else.


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hyksos55
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09 Mar 2013, 12:38 pm

People think and behave differently and as no two Aspies are alike it would stand to reason that no two NT's would be alike. People on the spectrum do think in a different way and this puts us in a contrast with the world's thinking in general. Persons who are NT contribute to society and persons on the spectrum contribute to society as well, so logically speaking I don't think one side is more ignorant or more intelligent then other side is. We just look at things differently and human nature always tells us our way is best.


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redrobin62
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09 Mar 2013, 12:43 pm

I was wondering myself because I have avoidant personality disorder, and when I run across the arrogant and self-superior right here on WP, I disappear for days. They are the total opposite of me, but I've seen it so often here I'm thinking it may be an extension of the trait. Or maybe it's people making up for their shortcomings and failures by being online bullies.



Buggins
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09 Mar 2013, 12:49 pm

MannyBoo wrote:
Is it?

"Feeling different" is a common thing people say. Well not only have i felt different, but to be honest, i also felt "better" than the people around me. More intelligent, more creative, seeing patterns they can't, etc...


It's a human trait. Aspies probably can't hide it properly.
IQ tests probably don't help, as many Aspies do really well in certain areas. People tend to get a little smug if you tell them they're smartet than 98 percent of the world population...

But honestly, humans on average simply aren't humble. Wearing only designer labels, owning a Ferrari and always the newest generation of the Ipad mostly serves the purpose of showing off.

And society (the media in particular) loves to perpetuate the image of the troubled, eccentric genius.