Though this is in IMHO, I’m also interested in hearing if there’s some kind of factual answer to this.
Suppose someone has an inflated sense of their own abilities, in that they are convinced they’re “smart” enough to do seriously great things, but they also believe themselves to be a very deeply helplessly lazy fuck-up who will never live up to their potential?
In other words, they have a very inflated sense of their own potential, and a very deflated sense of their ability to follow through on this potential.
Does this person have high self esteem or low self esteem?
It depends on the reason why you haven’t lived up to your mythical “potential” (whateverthefuck that is).
I am lazy and therefore I am a horrible person. If I were a good person I would have done X or Y by now. I haven’t, so I’m not a good person.
-low self esteem
There are many things I choose not to do, but I am satisfied with my life. My choices are my own.
-normal self esteem
I don’t have to do all those things, only people less smart/interesting/whatever than me have to do them. All people who do those things are below me and worthy of disdain.
-excessive self esteem
I believe that low or high self esteem does not neccessarily have to apply to every aspect of a persons life. I know my overall self esteem is on the low side but the career path I chose put me in an enviroment where I was usually heads and shoulders above most of the others around me. At work I felt needed and respected. In my personnal life lack of education and not so good social skills put me on the other end of the spectrum. I have found a common ground in my hobbies and passions where I can fit in pretty well with the type of people I actually like to rub shoulders with. I kind of think of it as my nuetral ground, where I can be confident but still have to stay on my toes to maintain my position.
Not necessarily either. I think it would depend on whether they value being natural brilliant over having a strong, dedicated work ethic.
I’ve noticed that some self-identified smart people seem to almost take pride in being lazy. “Oh, I could get an A in calculus if I actually tried to study and stuff…but since I’m lazy and thus too cool for school, I’ll settle for a C.”
This manner of thinking then allows someone to actually look down on those who are studious and hard-working (“They have to work hard, you see, because they aren’t naturally smart!”) rather than become jealous.
We must be twins because I was thinking the same thing!
“Lazy” does not connote the same level of badness as “stupid” does, in my book. If I blame bad behavior on laziness, I’m saying I could change if I wanted to, but alas I’m too cool to care.