Is this a WP thing or just the net in general?

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I have noticed quite a lot on this forum that many people talk up and brag about their skills (or how intelligent they are etc.) quite a lot on here and have quite a high opinion of their work (whether it be writing, drawing, singing, playing a musical instrument, photography etc.) and then they post their stuff and although there is a lot of good stuff posted on here, a lot of the time it ranges from plain average to mediocre or even just rubbish. Sometimes I wonder whether people are deluded and really think they are skilled or whether it is just the done thing to talk yourself up and generally do a bit of bragging.

I don't mean this to sound like I am an a**hole or anything but it is just curiosity as the attitude seems more prevalent on here then any other boards I have been on.

Its general but in the case of a bunch of above average IQ social rejects you'll have expect a lot of egoism. I agree - yes there's a lot of mediocre to crap that people praise. Its like that on Deviant art though too, seriously - Have you seen some of the s**t on there that gets five million people saying the same damn thing "Oh its cool." Constructive criticism is where?

It also depends on personal view. Such as you where you have different standards than another. You may see someone and go "well crap they're f*****g ret*d, look they are blatantly stupid," when thats a simple personal opinion (unless they really are pretty dim.) to another they might have brought up a damn good point or two. Depends on your way of looking at things, ect. Same with poetry and art, sure my poetry is craptastic to one and incredible to another - I care less as I am satisfied with it and if I become less so I get rid of it as I progress or whatever.

I've seen a lot of egotism here yes but a good amount of it has been backed up to par.
I've seen a lot of egotism elsewhere - more so even in which how they came to conclude they were fantastic? Beyond me.

Arrogance kills no one less the arrogance is too thick but that in itself is their own suicide so why bother passing judgment on it. They'll see they are wrong eventually or they'll do something stupid that costs them. Been there, done that. Ect.

Well not sure precisely what situations your talking about here on WP but in real life being a man and working with men in the past I can say they brag about their abilities, conquest, etc in a never ending fashion. And any man who admits his limitations is quickly labeled a derogatory name for female genitalia.

From an evolutionary stand point its natural people will try to over sale themselves. And
people like myself who try to be honest are doomed to be weeded out of the gene pool.
Which is the precise mechanism of why your seeing this phenomenon.

I know what you are talking about there. I remember when I was a child in the local rec (park) a kid asked me what I was good at and I sort of just said 'huh?' and he said, you know, like sports, are you good at football and I just said 'Well, I like playing but I am not really that good' and he just gave me funny looks. I don't see what the problem is personally; like most other people on this planet, I am not particularly good at anything. I can do some things with limited success and there is a lot that I enjoy doing and work hard at but it is just that I don't have any real distinguishable talent in anything. I don't see why I should make out any differently because then I will just look like an idiot when people can see that it isn't true. I remember speaking to a guy at university and I was asking him about some maths stuff and he made the comment 'Oh, yeah, group theory is easy' and I said 'Well you can't really say that, it is a massive area and you have only really scratched the surface, sure, maybe you were able to do your course homework questions without too much difficulty but that is nothing in the grand scheme of things'.

The conquests thing that you mentioned is the worst one...I see relationships between people as just two like-minded people getting together; nothing more, nothing less so when people start talking like it is some kind of tournament that they are winning, or start acting like they are 'defeating' people then it is just really crass to me. I am not a prude or anything, it is just the bragging aspect which I find rather crude.

I guess it is just another mentality that I can't understand.

Last edited by JakeG on 18 May 2007, 9:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.

You see, that is the other thing: As much as people talk about how intelligent and above average they are on here...I really don't see it in most of the threads I read. Yes, there are some intelligent sounding posters on here but a lot of the stuff I read on here from people who claim they are very intelligent just seems like mindless tripe. I am not talking about spelling, grammar and sentence construction; I mean what people type and their arguments often don't sound highly intelligent by any standards.

Hmm, speaking as a person who hasn't submitted anything to this site and bragged, how the hell can you consider what you are asking anything other than being an a**hole? "Oh hey guys is it just me or does everyone here seem to suck at art and not think so? Just curious." And then we're a bunch of "average IQ social rejects?" What the hell? Maybe you should be looking elsewhere for your superiority complex, guys.

Last edited by maldoror on 18 May 2007, 9:29 pm, edited 2 times in total.

That is not what I said or meant to imply. Even ignoring the issue of whether the people who brag produce good work; I was still interested to know if the incidence of bragging here seemed higher then elsewhere or not. I didn't say that everyone bragged, just that some do.

I don't agree with the 'above average IQ social rejects' comment either. I don't think that the level of intelligence here is particularly high and I also don't think that everyone here is a social reject; many have friends and integrate into society quite nicely.

When you talk of superiority complexes, I think you are missing the point. I didn't say that everyone was crap at everything and that I was better. I don't mean to criticise the work people post, per se, but more the bragging attitude that so often precedes it.

I've frequented several message boards in the past (though they are the type that tend to attract people with above average intelligence). I don't think the level of egoism on this board is anything out of the ordinary. If anything, it's a bit lower than what I'm used to.

Reminds me of a saying someone told me: Guys who brag how big their dix are usually have small ones.

I think it's the opposite. Men are wimps if they can't admit s**t, if you're not good at something, suck it up, you shouldn't be afraid to admit you're bad at something.

Just my opinion.

And then replying to the first and second posts of this thread, I've seen this 4 year old girl who makes paintings by just swiping paint randomly all over the canvas and she sells them for thousands each. Saw this on the news.

Well, there was a talk about IQs. I don't know if I ever even answered that. I, like many here happily, don't take it as an accurate measurement. I am glad it says I am above average, etc... but I don't brag. I do a LOT of things well without bragging. AND, if OTHERS praise me, I actually HATE it if I feel it is too much.

HECK, EVERYONE on the spectrum here HAS admitted failings. I have ALSO! I would LOVE it if I was perfect, but I'm not, and readily admit it.

Still, with all the failings we own up to, bragging a little would be justified, and the APPEARANCE of that IS a symptom of AS. I have OFTEN been called a knowitall. TODAY, it is in the sense of PRAISE, and not derogatory, because people realize I really DO know all I claim to, and THEY WANT MY HELP. They pay me a LOT for the privilege! I never claimed to know everything about ANYTHING though. In fact, I hate the term expert being applied to ANYONE, INCLUDING MYSELF!

BTW Some considered ME stupid at times, and later admitted I was smart. Some used the word GENIUS! One girl here spoke of how her friends called her smart but stupid! Sometimes it is hard to discern how a person really is.

Steve

I like your stuff-it's interesting My stuff always looks crappy next to others, but most people on there use comp stuff it seems to "perfect". Can't wait to learn to do it but still have doubts where I'll add up.


I see a lot of that too though (back on topic). While I don't think my stuff is bragworthy or anything, others do. Same with other people-a lot who brag I wouldn't mind not ever seeing it again, lol, sadly, but there are always other angles to it. Just the concept can be absolutely brilliant while the art isn't all that spectacular-making it appear to not be so good, or it can look great but not have much thought put into it. That's where I really notice the contrast. It doesn't matter where it's at, you'll always find it.

Ultimately though, it's all a matter of opinion. Where one person might think something absolutely sucks, someone else sees something in the coloring, or the way it is drawn, or the idea of it, etc.

I think it's a matter of how proud someone is about it and the amount of positive responses they get to it that leads to ego.

I have a bit of an ego actually... I do have some trouble accepting constructive criticism depending on what they are talking about or how it's worded. If someone flat out says "that's crap", it bugs me a lot, but if they say "this could be improved like this IMO" I'm fine with it and try it out.

I once had someone make a huge issue over a picture I put in a tattoo section-asking why the hell I ever thought anyone would ever want it as a tattoo (it was a pretty shaded picture, and was done in pencil so lots of smudges), and it bothered me a lot because the picture wasn't cleaned up, I didn't take the time to do that, it didn't occur to me to put it anywhere else because I just wasn't thinking, etc. But I've had people tell me my stuff looks crappy but could be nice if it was touched up some and didn't mind that at all.

Last edited by nobodyzdream on 19 May 2007, 1:34 am, edited 1 time in total.

Perhaps what you're trying to get at is how you dislike "one-upsmanship" ?

I get annoyed when people (in general-IRL or online) say "look at this big scar I got from doing this" and other person feels compelled to reply with "oh yeah, my scar is bigger". The need to out-extreme or over-intensify oneself, as some sort of defense against one's own insecurity, or someone else's attempts to proclaim their own superiority (their "more-than-you"-ness). Trying to outdo others can be an inspirational, positive, constructive thing-but it can just as easily lead to hostility, cutthroat tactics, and rewarding the skills/talents of dishonesty & ruthlessness.
Arguments over whose writing or art is "better" seem futile, since those objective judgements can't be made, it's all based on each individual's taste, perception, interpretation, preferences, etc.
Competition over stuff that's subjective is inherently going to be endless, because there's no final arbiter of who or what has "won". Beauty is in eye of beholder, same goes for creative works.

Why do you care if people brag? You are obviously irritated or you wouldn't post a thread about this and criticize bragging.

You seem to think that people that brag are flaunting their superiority over you. They are trying to make you feel inferior by bragging. You can't handle that, you get all emotional and you want defend your own delusion of superiority. So you feel the need to stomp them down, "put them back into their place."
This type of thinking happens on a subconscious level. Consciously you will deny you are acting like this. This is very NT-like behaviour.

Let them feel good and proud about something, especially if it is something they love. Let them brag, even if you think it is utter crap. Don't let it bother you.

First of all, I said above average and given the situation that AS is a disorder that delays social abilities but enhances other things such as intellect, pattern observation, ect - also that we are all above average my statement was rather correct, you just took it personal.

Nobodyzdream, thank you.
I have a pretty big ego but I also have a superiority/inferiority complex and at least, I try to be reasonable and rationalistic.

I think you'll find people with God-complexes in most areas of life, so no, it probably isn't a WP thing.

Possibly there is a higher incidence of this type of thinking here because of the thought processes
common to people on the spectrum. problems such as focussing on the minutae, inability to see the bigger picture, reliance on logic, insistence that your own point of view is right because of this reliance on logic (which may well be flawed).

or possibly people here are compensating for their difficulties in life, by over stating the areas in which they feel they are good at?

It's an internet thing.

It makes you e-cool if you're e-smarter than other e-people.