Embroiled in a discourse about the changing role of intellectualism in society and how language is changing to meet cultural expectations and how religion contributes (or has no effect on) the growing anti-intellectualism of American culture, the "dumbing down" of society to fit the lowest common denominator, I had a thought that was not new to me. If I had had time to express it (sadly, we were on a clock) I doubt it would have been a new point to any of my discussion partners either. Nonetheless, I think it a thought well worth having, a question worth repeating, something worth wondering: Have we, in American culture, become apologetic for our own successes? We live in a culture of almost forced homogeneity, wishing not to stand out lest we draw the scrutiny of our peers. We wish to be just like everyone else, no one less than any other person but also no one higher. We seek to hold everyone up to the same standard but fear to surpass that standard, knowing that others cannot and that our actions hold us up above the rest.
If we merely wish to succeed and, indeed, bring others up to our higher level, then where does this presumption of pretentiousness come into play? So often we say that those who succeed cannot be elitist and smug about their successes, and so efface ourselves when it comes to our own triumphs for fear of being seen as pretentious. But would others truly see us in such a way? I know I rarely look at someone who has achieved greatness and write off their successes as presumptuousness, feeling like they are looking down on me for not having achieved as much as they. Rather I admire them and wish to be more like them, feeling like they would encourage such ambitions--raising the bar rather than lowering it, bringing others up to their level rather than needing to bring themselves down to relate to the poor laity below.
Are we so afraid of others' opinions of us that we defend ourselves against this imagined danger of seeming pretentiousness? Are we really that self-conscious, that we apologize for our achievements because others cannot achieve the same, that we attempt to make our successes seem to matter less just because some others have failed and we don't want to make them feel bad? How is that helpful, how does that help others achieve success when we say, oh, my achievements aren't that great, don't worry, I don't want to seem like I'm better than you because we really are just the same even though you still have some ways to go before you can achieve on my level.
There is nothing wrong with being good at things. Nothing. At. All.
And yet we almost refuse to acknowledge that there are different kinds of people in the world and that they are all good at different things, that no one will ever be good at everything and just because you fail sometimes doesn't mean you won't achieve in other ways. This idea that those who are good at something must work not to appear elitist and pretentious isn't necessarily the fault of those viewing them; this perception travels some from the performers of this act as well.
What will it take for people to stand up and simply, purely, be proud of their good work? One can be humble without being self-effacing; while vanity is certainly not an attractive trait, one can be proud of one's accomplishments without boasting about them. Sometimes all it takes it the thought of "I did good" to truly brighten someone's outlook on life. Maybe next time we accuse someone of being pretentious, or try to head off accusations of our own elitism with a preemptive apology, we should consider the question of whether our audience in fact believes this of us--or whether we believe it of ourselves. Are we raising the bar and encouraging others to jump over it? Or are we lowering the bar by laying on it and allowing others to step on us as they cross over?
And is there something to the fact that, while reading over these last few sentences, I laughed to myself and internally wondered, Well, I wonder if I'm being pretentious enough?
No comments:
Post a Comment