Is egotism really so bad?

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Humility is often presented as good, and egotism as bad. However, I believe that most people who preach this only preach it because socially, it is in ones best interest not to be arrogant. If you do not care about social status or are considered an "outcast" then I believe ego would be a far more helpful option; allows somebody to be happy independent of others if they are unable to relate to others. After all, why be humble to people who probably look down on you anyway? If you harness your ego and use it to motivate you can achieve greatness and then exhibit that greatness to those who doubted you to make them second guess. But if you are too humble, you might not even try. Sometimes somebody needs to be told they are great, but if nobody else is going to do that, then it definitely helps to have a high sense of self to do it automatically. I am not referring to NARCISSISM (which involves ego at the expense of others and exploitation), I am referring purely to bringing yourself up, and nobody else down, mostly privately, in your own head. I see nothing wrong with this.

In my opinion, the healthiest attitude is readiness to see and accept the truth of oneself.
Both egotism and humility can hinder it.

Egotism is the tendency to think only about yourself and consider yourself better and more important than other people, and generally features an inflated opinion of one's personal qualities and intellectual, physical, or social importance. Extreme egotism involves little or no concern for others, including those loved or considered as "close," in any other terms except those set by the egotist. It means that you think the world revolves around you (it doesn't), and that you believe you are more important then you really are (you aren't). It is closely related to narcissism, and the possible tendency to speak or write of oneself boastfully and at great length. Egotism may coexist with delusions of one's own importance, at the denial of others. This conceit is a character trait describing a person who acts to gain values in an amount excessively greater than that which he/she gives to others. Egotism is often accomplished by exploiting the altruism, irrationality and ignorance of others, as well as utilizing coercive force and/or fraud.

yes. but its the only thing that keeps a lot of ppl in this world alive you know.

It depends on your life focus...

I don't think it's a great thing....no.

I believe more in doing stuff for people than in thinking you're hot stuff and doing nothing for people.

Egotism is what drove the killers at Columbine.

Rational egotism is the idea behing neoliberal capitalism.
The homo economicus is the rational egotist.

Yes, it's one way to do things, and for some, it's the licence they needed to do what they want as long as it's legal, or there's no laws for it yet, or no one finds out.
Of course, laws are flawed.

But psychologists know now that egotism doesn't make most people happy.
Economics knows that real humans aren't homo economicus. They just don't have any other model for human behaviour.

We built our modern society on egotism. And now we're finding out it's actually not working that well...


A healthy amount of ego is necessary for survival, of course ... But that's not egotism!

then to perverse effect , ... ¡ vous avez raisons !

Are you confusing egotism with solipsism?

or you can just base your entire career on it , to no particular calculation, like a dasherang ..

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... PaXnpouNld

just an accumulation of a few thousand years of human history, our egotism has increased immensely as well in proportion .. as well as as our population has increased .. it feel so different to be a great man watched by seven billion of people, instead of a small empire like napoleons france, ekaterinas russia, or whoever that ruled the ottoman empire, or the ..

This.

A healthy amount of ego helps. An unhealthy amount of ego harms.

I knew a man IRL with a long history of being taken advantage of by his business partners. When I got to know him closer, I understood why: he was narcissistic. He wasn't malevolent, his narcissism harmed mostly himself. It prevented him from seeing weaknesses of himself or his plans. It made him believe anything that flattered him.
So easy prey for manipulative businessmen.

A strong ego is a pre-requisite in the entertainment industry...
Exhibitionism is also essential...
Please supply examples where this isn't the case if you disagree...

This. But the bolded part is often a strong blow to their ego

Rational egoist, ethical egoism, utilitarianism etc, people always find something to justify their weaknesses and even try to make them look like strengths.