By Tejcoomar Luchmun.

“You say that your hope is in God, and he will, I am sure, stand by you. But you must not forget that you have been given worldly means to use and employ against human arrogance and wrong; it is necessary to see such things with a broad mind in order to oppose them.” Knute Nelson

Of the many bad habits humans are known for having, arrogance should rank among the worst. It may only seem impolite behaviour and therefore relatively harmless, but underneath can lie trouble…

While seemingly only a few people act arrogantly, but since arrogance exists at all, it could be considered a human trait, at least potentially. Other than arrogance being “a feeling or an impression of superiority manifested in an overbearing manner or presumptuous claims”, some might also consider it as “a pride that is characterised by what we actually are”.

We all know it… the real downside of arrogance is negativity. It fosters a negative-minded culture, not to mention the animosity it breeds. So, what is a negative-minded culture? Oh, not much, just one built atop hate and disrespect… nothing good can come from one. It also invariably leads to poor decision making. An arrogant man is rarely capable of making good decisions of a competitive nature. He does, however, create an air of superiority, sometimes one of invincibility. He becomes almost unapproachable. Such arrogance is intimidating to many people because of its power to stifle the air… purposeful of course to ‘acquire and maintain’. In a sense, it is a tactic of a bully.

Their arrogant-powered superiority complex automatically leads them to believe their intelligence is vastly superior. An arrogant man cannot imagine an intellectual equal, it is the natural consequence. Call it denial. They have very little patience towards others who do not demonstrate the same level of success or popularity as them and even hate learning from others because they believe that they are more intelligent than others.

Due to the animosity it breeds and the negative-minded culture it creates… it is the most damaging of all ‘mental aberrations’ because of the lasting effects, largely irreversible. Arrogance, is the trademark of the bureaucratic landscape almost everywhere.

Whether or not pretence and hypocrisy are children of arrogance is uncertain but they likely live in the same neighbourhood. After all, like arrogance, they’re both dysfunctional demeanours of a self-serving nature, making someone underestimating the opposition.

In professional circles, instead of arrogance being blamed… it’s the consequences. Also, in the opinion of far too many, it’s just a matter of ethics, as if standing alone, that some men are ethical and some aren’t. It’s just the surface explanation. Nor has it been associated with dishonesty and greed…

Specifically however, arrogance is the attitude which breeds maleficent conduct, conjures it up. If an arrogant person doesn’t care about ruining someone’s day, then it demonstrates they have no respect for justice either. Furthermore, the larger the stage, the more arrogant the arrogant become. It feeds upon itself.

However, to look at it somewhat analogically, imagine arrogance being effectively the opposite of humbleness. That’s easy, right? That’s because it’s inherently felt. Stop being really arrogant. It is time for you to stop thinking about only yourself. Arrogant individuals do not respect anybody and care about themselves and others. THINK BEFORE YOU SPEAK AND ACT.

Start by changing your ATTITUDE so that you can live better in a humble society than in an arrogant one.