POLL Through a Glass Darkly - Discourse
C. S. Lewis similarly emphasized the importance of truth to a proper understanding of humility. As the protagonist in his Screwtape Letters enthuses, “Thousands of humans have been brought to think that humility means pretty women trying to believe they are and clever men trying to believe they are fools.” This extreme is what Aristotle branded “undue humility” and as far from “proper pride” as the opposite extreme of “empty vanity.”
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Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.It's hard to be arrogant when you know you're just one specimen of eight billion of your species.
It's hard to be arrogant when you know there's more stuff to know than can be contained in the entire species.
It's hard to be arrogant when you don't know all the answers.
It only becomes hard when you encounter less informed people that claim to know all the answers only proving themselves to know way less than any person that graduated from any U.S. public high school, if they retain any knowledge at all.
Christianity claims to have all the answers, which is the best proof that they have none at all.
BTW screw the Screwtape letters and the moron that wrote them.
Christians have NOTHING to say about humility considering their hubris.
Willow_Wisp
Level 8
Oct 9, 2020
2
Having humility is not having low self esteem, it's not being cocky. It's accepting the fact that you're not so fucking great!
barjoe
Level 9
Oct 9, 2020
4
I am!
I feel pretty fucking great to me, just no greater than anyone else. 
Exactly, why do you need to put yourself down? This reminds me of something I'm told is common in Chinese culture - that's certainly a generalization and I've never lived there so I don't know first person but I have seen it in some Chinese friends I have. But it is less about humility and more some mind game and power play of oneupmanship. You put yourself down and boost your colleagues or business partners, maybe even friends too. The more you praise them the worse they fair in the game, I've never quite understood it. The upshot is you never know what anyone thinking... like cultures where saying "Yes" and can often mean "No" just because saying no is considered rude.
I rather fear that this whole alternative-facts cult that has overtaken halve the country will only serve to magnify our distortion and lack of grip on reality. Real life will turn into the same obnoxious shouting match that Twitter and Facebook have become. And at that point we're screwed.
@prometheus I would agree that compliments are false humility are not progress. Humans need to simply treat each other as extensions of Divine spirit without flowery exaltations. We are all fallible so take joy at what good is experienced by company and not watering it.
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