I think you may be confusing “arrogant” with “psychotic”.
True.
I think I’m smarter than the average bear, because I recognize and accept just how little I actually know and understand compared to how much it’s possible to know and understand. That, I believe, makes me smarter, in a practical sense, than people who know about the same as I do but who believe themselves to have a grasp on most of what’s worth knowing.
In other words, wisdom, I think, is intelligence plus humility.
Intelligence can often find itself frustrated by wilful, stubborn ignorance; as a reaction, hostility (including a measure of arrogance) becomes understandable.
what do you mean by intelligence?
the dictionary definition actually has two different meaning.
the terms ‘Military Intelligence’ and ‘collecting intelligence’ uses the word intelligence to mean knowledge or information.
the sentence: Einstein and Newton were men of great intelligence. uses the word the way psychologists mean it.
i have met people with PhDs who have a significant amount of knowledge but don’t seem very intelligent in the psychological sense. some of these people put on a show of being intelligent and come across as arrogant to me. i put them in the pseudointellectual category.
if someone is exceptionally intelligent and knowledgable and make no attempt to hide it, are they arrogant? do you suppose playing dumb is really boring and aggravating?
Dal Timgar
Cough, Cough! George W. Bush Cough!
It’s not so much that intelligence begets arrogance as that stupidity inspires condescension.
Oh, and Vorlon, a perfect response . . . except that the period goes inside the quotation mark. 
if a certain person is making the same stupid mistake, it is not enough to meekly submit to his or her stupidity. That itself would be stupid.
At some point, you have to point out that their plan is, well, stupid (dont call THEM stupid, even if they are, it is counterproductive.)
If they are in a position of power over you (boss, etc.) Say that the plan WILL. NOT. WORK. instead.
I’m aware of the formatting rules. I think they’re silly and illogical, so I choose not to use them. The period wasn’t part of the quoted material, but ends the sentence after it. (Really, I’m not just trying to justify a mistake.)
Besides, how could I correct someone’s ignorant mistake without making one of my own? 
IMHO the opposite of arrogance would be modesty, not humility.
I have loads of humility and it leads to nothing but self righteous arrogance. But, at least I’m right.
The first point was real point.
The next post will be wrong.
Apparently most people think they’re more intelligent then they actually are, and any arrogance based on intelligence may be based on a “perceived image” of intelligence. But it might be a survival trait. If you think you’re smarter, you may act with greater confidence, and succeed where otherwise you wouldn’t.
I think intelligence is usually very specific, if so, arrogance derived from intelligence may also be restricted to a few issues.
I.e. “I’m only arrogant when it comes to what (I think) I know.”
I think a lot of intelligent people are arrogant because want to make up for other deficits they have, such as unattractiveness, clumsiness, lack of social skills, etc.
Thank you Themis!
OK, look, a couple of years ago I got talked into joining Mensa so I suppose I’m technically qualified to talk about intelligence and possibly arrogance. Just for the record, Mensa is an organization for people with IQ’s in the top 2%. Hang on a second – it’s early and I want to put my thoughts in order. I’m also posting before I’ve had my morning cup of tea, so please bear with me.
First of all, do I need to say that not all intelligent people are arrogant, although some certainly are? One reason I resisted joining Mensa is because I’d been exposed to the organization before and was put off by the amount of arrogance I saw in it. The people who talked me into joining it aren’t arrogant and they dislike it every bit as much as I do. They tend to be curious, open-minded, and compassionate, although that’s true of all my friends. My own attitude toward my intelligence is it’s part of my genetic make up. It came with my brown hair and hazel eyes, and it’s no more important than those characteristics. What got me hooked on Mensa was Regional Gatherings (RG’s). We do have a couple of arrogant types who come to these things. I admit it. For the most part, however, the arrogance is strongly discouraged because there’s no need for it. The general attitude is “You’re here. You haven’t run screaming. Of course you’re intelligent, so why do you have to brag about it?” Oh, and if the attitude persists, the person who is being arrogant is likely to find out that they’re not the smartest or most knowledgeable person there, and it might not even be intentional.
Second, I suspect intelligence is sometimes perceived as arrogance, and I’m aware I may walk close to the line here. I’ve always had a large vocabulary, perhaps because I was a voracious reader. As a result, I’ll use the word which I think fits my meaning best, whether it’s a three-syllable word or a one-syllable word. As an example, I used the word “voracious” two sentences ago because I like the element of hunger it has which, say, “eager” might not. When I was a teenager and put my hand up in class because I knew the answer, it genuinely did not occur to me that everyone else might not know it. I had a hard time understanding that what came so easily to me didn’t to everyone else. If I talk about something which genuinely interests me, whether it’s the politics of evolution, Japanese culture, classical music, or even an idea for a knitting pattern, it’s not to show off how intelligent I am, but because I’m genuinely interested in it. One of the things I love about RGs is it’s almost impossible to walk down a hallway without getting into a good conversation, and I don’t have to worry about scaring people off because of what I’m interested in. One of the things I love about this place is I can explore all sorts of ideas and learn a lot from people.
Third, speaking for myself, I’d argue that intelligence not only discouraged arrogance, it encouraged me to think of myself as some sort of a lesser creature, or even a freak. I cannot help the way I’m made. You all know the story about how rodents must have something to gnaw on otherwise their incisors will grow into a spiral and, in time, puncture their brain and kill them, right? (Note: I have no idea whether this story’s true or not.) I’ve just finished a day sitting on a reception desk and it has served as a reminder that I cannot just sit and do nothing/think of nothing. I don’t watch network television as a rule; instead, I watch a lot of TLC. It’s not because I think I’m better than people who do – Lord knows that with my weakness for Judge Judy and The People’s Court, I’ve got no room to boast! – it’s because the shows on TLC are genuinely more interesting to me. I used to think I was worse than other people, rather than better, because other people knew how to do one important thing which completely eluded me. They knew how to be like everyone else.
Finally, Themis, if a person is constantly being called a freak, a geek, and being accused of thinking she’s better than everyone, how on earth is she supposed to acquire social skills?!
If this is rambling or unclear, forgive me. If it’s arrogant, it’s certainly not intentional!
CJ
Um, cjhoworth, I think that you and Themis00 are actually arguing opposite cases.
You may be lacking some background on Themis00.
Waverly pointed some of it out here.
I may be wrong, by my tentative conclusion is that Themis00 is saying that intelligent people are unattractive, clumsy, and lack social skills.
D, good l*rd no. :smack:
I’m not saying that intelligent=unattractive, clumsy, and a lack of social skills. What I was saying, I sometimes think intelligent people WHO ARE arrogant use it as a smoke screen to cover up other insecurities they may have.
Michael Caine ( who’s orignal name was so funny that it would get him all beat up in the pooor neighbrohood he grew up in )said in an interview that all actors are egomanicas, and the ones that deny it, are the best actors. :smack:
Sometimes the arrogance is a way of dealing with the fear and frustration of seeing just how many ignorant and/or stupid people there are in positions of real power.
“One fool is amusing, a hundred are annoying, and a million are downright dangerous.”
Hmm, I can’t find a cite just now, but I remember reading about a study a few years ago that seemed to come to the opposite conclusion as the OP.
The researchers gave people a test, and found that the worse people did on the test, the higher they rated their performance and overall ability. Those who did extremely well were very critical of their own performance. Basically the less capabale people were blissfully unaware of their inability and were quite convinced they had it all together.
Also, for the love of everything people, especially in a thread where people are correcting each others’ grammar “begs the question” DOES NOT mean “then we need to ask.” It’s a term for a logical fallacy along the lines of “strawman.”
I have tried to maintain both humility and modesty regarding my above average intelligence. I believe IQ is a meaningless statistic, anyway, as it does not measure the worth of a man - only his ability to score high on IQ tests. It is this humility and modesty that allows me to say with complete confidence that I am superior to all of you.
Can I be on the peer review committee for that paper? 