# Is arrogance OK if you have the goods to back it up? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 17, 2009, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-arrogance-ok-if-you-have-the-goods-to-back-it-up/486241 "2009-02-17T06:18:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-arrogance-ok-if-you-have-the-goods-to-back-it-up/486241/41 "2009-02-18T20:13:20Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > In a thread on Cafe Society about the TV show House, there was a discussion about House being an asshole, but talented enough that the other characters forgave his behavior - far more than real human beings would. > > So, is arrogance forgivable if you’re brilliant and talented enough? Or can one be enough of a jackass that no amount of talent makes your vile personality bearable? Arrogance is never ok. There’s a reason that we have an old saying about catching more flies with honey than vinegar… ---
**Author:** ![Critical1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Critical1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Critical1)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-arrogance-ok-if-you-have-the-goods-to-back-it-up/486241/42 "2009-02-18T21:06:52Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > There’s a very fine line between confidence and arrogance. so true, The op is indeed mixing things up a bit. I would say that one sign of arrogance in the op would be the inability to admit they were wrong or take an opportunity to learn from someone who might not be at their level. I have been called arrogant more than once but its by people who dont know me. Anyone who does know me knows I am smart and very blunt but more than willing to step back and see what the other person is offering. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-arrogance-ok-if-you-have-the-goods-to-back-it-up/486241/43 "2009-02-18T21:55:04Z")
> [@Critical1](#): > > I have been called arrogant more than once but its by people who dont know me. Anyone who does know me knows I am smart and very blunt but more than willing to step back and see what the other person is offering. A couple of years ago after a certain person called me arrogant, I had to point out that the only people who had ever called me arrogant were the ones who I had already decided in my mind were arrogant. It occurred to me that this person and the previous couple of people were calling me arrogant because I was confident in myself and wasn’t bending over backwards to offer up my own weakness and unworthiness for their satisfaction. With some people, it’s like “Well he’s not groveling and admitting weakness, so he’s arrogant”. ---
**Author:** ![Snnipe\_70E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5a626/32.png) [@Snnipe\_70E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snnipe_70E)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-arrogance-ok-if-you-have-the-goods-to-back-it-up/486241/44 "2009-02-19T01:39:21Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > In a thread on Cafe Society about the TV show House, there was a discussion about House being an asshole, but talented enough that the other characters forgave his behavior - far more than real human beings would. > > So, is arrogance forgivable if you’re brilliant and talented enough? Or can one be enough of a jackass that no amount of talent makes your vile personality bearable? NO arrogance is never aceptable. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-arrogance-ok-if-you-have-the-goods-to-back-it-up/486241/45 "2009-02-19T02:13:02Z")
> [@Orr\_G](#): > > I tend to think of most types of arrogance as being a strong indicator that the individual actually lacks competance, rather than the other way around. Someone truly competant and confidant wouldn’t have the need to add the layers of bluster and social cutting behaviors that typify arrogant behavior. I generally find that the person accusing another of arrogance is covering for their lack of skill. “He’s really good at that and I’m not. I better lie to myself and say he’s not so that I’ll feel better.” It goes both ways. > [@Psiharis](#): > > House isn’t just arrogant because he knows he’s good; he’s arrogant because he knows everyone else is worse. When he cuts others down, it’s not typically because he’s good at his job. It’s because he dislikes them or wants to make a joke. It’s usually about a haircut or recent behavior, not, say, a diagnosis or procedure. > [@olivesmarch4th](#): > > if you always think you’re right, chances are you’re going to fuck it up and someone’s going to get hurt. It’s the person that second-guesses themselves or can’t make a decision that gets people hurt. Everyone should always think themselves right. The alternative is believing something you think is wrong. In that case, why is it not immediately rejected? > [@msmith537](#): > > I think if you are very good and competant at your job, it is hard not to appear arrogant. Especially around people who are relatively lazy or incompetant. > > If you are really at a much higher level than the people around you, you get tired of having to “dumb it down”. That can lead to resentment or contempt which manifests itself as perceived “arrogance”. Amen. I have no problem admitting that I’m not good at football, not a good singer, and I’m not all that funny. But I’m smarter than 99% of the population (if those standardized tests are to be believed) and I get tired of having to dumb it down for people so as not to appear arrogant. I said “antithesis” a few weeks ago and got accused of making up words to make others feel dumb. ETA: And I hate having to give a list of things I’m not good at to avoid an “arrogant” charge. It’s ridiculous. I should be able to list my asset without needing to counterbalance it with a liability. It’s totally inapplicable to the conversation. I feel like I’m feeding others’ insecurity by doing so. > [@Chimera](#): > > There is a very strong undercurrent in the Western mind… But not elsewhere? Interesting… > [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > he is universally known as “Freddy\* the Dick”. > > - Not his real first name Was it [Nick](http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/clips/nick-burns/2786/), by chance? ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-arrogance-ok-if-you-have-the-goods-to-back-it-up/486241/46 "2009-02-19T02:22:00Z")
Arrogance in a competent person may be more tolerable than arrogance in a fool, but it’s still pretty annoying. Arrogant people refuse to admit mistakes (which everyone makes) and refuse to learn from others (we all have something to offer to each other). This makes for a unpleasant person. I tend to think arrogant people are really not confident, but are actually hiding an insecure personality. I know a person with arrogant tendancies (snob is probably a more apt descriptor) who once confessed to me that she has an inferiority complex since she doesn’t have an advanced degree like most of her colleagues. It helps to remember this whenever she ticks me off. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-arrogance-ok-if-you-have-the-goods-to-back-it-up/486241/47 "2009-02-19T02:30:53Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > Arrogant people refuse to admit mistakes (which everyone makes) and refuse to learn from others (we all have something to offer to each other). I don’t think that’s true, though, and it’s what makes this question so hard to agree upon. Perhaps we should have started a thread called “What is arrogance?” first. To me, failing to admit mistakes is not a mark of arrogance at all. To me, it’s a feeling to superiority that makes an arrogant person. And thus why it’s justifiable. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-arrogance-ok-if-you-have-the-goods-to-back-it-up/486241/48 "2009-02-19T02:49:26Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > This is why I think Muhammad Ali is not a great example, at least not many of the clips I see all the time. I once told my friend he’d be greater if he didn’t go around saying, “I’m the greatest!” Ali has to be seen in context, though; he was partly just playing a role. He modeled his “Greatest” persona partially on the pro wrestler “Gorgeous George,” the original wrestling “heel” who never missed an opportunity to talk about how ridculously awesome he was. He had his hair perfectly permed and coiffed, wore a sequined robe, had his valet spray down the ring with his favorite perfume before he wrestled, and infuriated the crowd by openly cheating. He was wildly hated, and so enormously popular for it that he nearly singlehandedly created pro wrestling. Ali probably went overboard with the act sometimes, but much of it was forgivable. It was mostly just to make the headlines, and he could be pretty witty about it. ---
**Author:** ![Vihaga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Vihaga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vihaga)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-arrogance-ok-if-you-have-the-goods-to-back-it-up/486241/49 "2009-02-19T17:45:41Z")
Nope. Arrogance is never acceptable. The smartest people I’ve ever met haven’t actually been arrogant, so it’s by no means required. I work in biomedical research, neuroscience specifically, and while most of the people I work with are ahead of the curve, some of them are ridiculously, scary smart, gregarious, fit and interesting- with exactly the characteristics you would expect someone who could “back it up” to have… and the very best of them aren’t arrogant at all. Partially, this is because I work in a very interdisciplinary, collaborative field, so not being able to work well with others makes you a liability, whether you’re brilliant or not. Brilliance doesn’t automatically make you know how to do everything; there just isn’t time to be an expert in everything you might encounter. People who don’t acknowledge the value in others or their own fallibility are not availing themselves of all the resources available or considering all possibilities. I don’t know when this would be a positive trait. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2009, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-arrogance-ok-if-you-have-the-goods-to-back-it-up/486241/50 "2009-02-20T04:50:10Z")
Appropriately enough, this week’s Onion: [Employee Who Likens Self To TV’s ‘House’ Fired](http://www.theonion.com/content/news_briefs/employee_who_likens_self_to?utm_source=a-section) ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2009, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-arrogance-ok-if-you-have-the-goods-to-back-it-up/486241/51 "2009-02-20T18:10:27Z")
If we’re still using Gregory House as the standard… Is House’s “aroogance” okay because he’s so good at his job? No, it’s not okay, but it DOES explain whey his bosses and colleagues put up with him. In any profession, if you have skills or talents that are hard to come by, you can get away with being a jerk… for at LEAST a little while. As Vince Lombardi used to tell problem players, “I’ll put up with your crap as long as it takes me to find someone good enough to replace you.” So, it’s realistic that Gregory House hasn’t been fired. It’s NOT realistic that anybody is still his friend. Every so often, one of the other characters will SAY “We’re not friends any more; maybe we never were,” but the writers can never let those characters stick to their guns. EVERYBODY always crumbles eventually, and gives in to what are supposedly House’s subtle charms. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-arrogance-ok-if-you-have-the-goods-to-back-it-up/486241.md?page=2)