Arrogance

The contradiction is this: in our society, in medicine, in relationships, at work, at home, and even at play, we must be confident. We need to have self-assurance in our skills, our abilities, our knowledge, and ourselves. But I think the biggest downfall is arrogance. An anesthesiologist who is arrogant will plunge into a case unprepared when he could have been. A surgeon who is arrogant will promise outcomes that he may not always deliver. A friend who is arrogant grates on the relationship. A spouse who is arrogant cannot see your perspective. When someone is arrogant, they think they own more than they do; a physician owns a disease and controls its progression, a suitor owns the man she chases, a teenager "pwns" his opponents at a game.

Perhaps there is a thin line between pride and arrogance, but I have a subconscious reaction almost immediately. I stand proud with someone who is proud: a friend who just took his boards, a new set of parents, a surprise winner of a board game. But arrogance almost immediately rubs me the wrong way. There are many other faults I accept so much more easily; even incompetence is tolerable as long as the person admits their failings. But a doctor who is arrogant does his patients a disservice just as a friend who is arrogant will find himself without, a politician who is arrogant will create chasms, a self who is arrogant will want for happiness.

I don't usually write such prescriptive blogs about personality, but a convergence of a lot of things - what is happening in the primaries, encounters with friends, thoughts about who I am and who I'd like to be - lead me to scribble this down.