<p>For instance, should a well-accomplished man be entitled to more pride than a person who has not accomplished as much? What are some variations to this scenario… or other examples you can think of?</p>
<p>Sounds like a homework question.</p>
<p>nope. it’s a thought question.</p>
<p>i’ve thought about the issue over and over, but can’t reach a conclusion.
basically we would have to define a well-accomplished person, and obviously that differs across value systems.</p>
<p>so the question is basically asking, in a way, to look through the perspective of your values. sort of.</p>
<p>Absolutely people should feel proud about their accomplishments. Unfortunately, it seems like the world is going in a direction toward egalitarianism. All Obama has been doing is promoting class warfare between the rich and everyone else, inspiring jealousy and resentment.</p>
<p>Clarifying the question helped a lot. I don’t think it matters how we define a well-accomplished person, because people are proud for doing something valuable according to their own standards (which may be influenced by social pressure, but not necessarily by mine or your opinion specifically). A person can feel proud for starting a company and earning a load of money because that’s something he wanted to achieve his whole life (which in turn may be because having a lot of money is viewed as a symbol of respectability and ‘coolness’ by majority of the population). But if I don’t consider it as something important/I would be proud of (hence, my view of a well-accomplished person is different), then my view on being proud of earning a load of money doesn’t matter – people have different systems of values with different things they could potentially be proud of. I know I would not be proud of winning someone in Warcraft, but there are people who would, and if it is important to them, then it makes sense. When it comes to me personally, withing my own system of values, I prefer not to be proud of anything because 1) It borderlines arrogance 2) I don’t see a point in being proud of something.</p>
<p>Of course you should be proud of your accomplishments. Otherwise what are you working for? To make a living? What you think of yourself is more important than what society thinks of you, but society’s view can often be a helpful guide.</p>
<p>And yes, a successful person should be entitled more pride than someone who hasn’t accomplished anything. But again it depends on what you mean by successful. Bob could be a millionaire, and Joe could be a skilled carpenter. One isn’t necessarily entitled to more “pride”, because they’ve both given it their all to be skilled in their respective fields. </p>
<p>The point is to try your absolute best in whatever field you enjoy, regardless of how much money it makes you. Laziness isn’t the same thing as not being successful (financially.)</p>
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<p>I am pretty sure there are a number of reasons to work besides willing to be proud – pure enjoyment, willingness to help someone (regardless of reasons), and so on. I know a guy who works as an educational adviser in my country, and helps students to apply to universities abroad. He doesn’t really do it to be ‘proud’ (although he might be in a result of his actions, which is irrelevant). He does it because a lot of talented students over here are rotting without proper education opportunities.</p>
<p>And I do not quite understand why the word ‘entitle’ is being used. People choose whether to be (or not to be) proud of themselves, they do not ‘entitle’ others to pride.</p>
<p>A short answer to your question: Yes.</p>
<p>I’ve noticed that people who are very successful are more arrogant than those that aren’t because there’s really little to keep their ego in check. I believe it’s healthy to have a sizable ego for these people. They are more willing to seek out solutions to problems, have idealistic goals, etc. and it ultimately benefits society as a whole.</p>
<p>It’s funny, as an aspiring sociologist, I came up with an entirely philosophical answer to this question. First, entitlement and pride can be exclusive of one another. Both, in my opinion, are dirty things better left untouched.</p>
<p>Pride is usually based on claiming the value of external factors. I have a super cool car, hot wife, an ivy league degree, and can do 2000 crunches before breakfast. Great. Does that mean you’re inherently more valuable than anyone else? Of course not. Does it mean that you THINK you are more valuable? Probably.</p>
<p>Enjoy your pride.</p>
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<p>Yeah, that’s what I was trying to say (I think I wasn’t clear enough though). People do not ‘entitle’ pride to other people. One feels proud of himself by himself depending on what he considers to be an important achievement (Ivy League degree for some, level 98 character in a video game for another).</p>
<p>I think pride in one’s accomplishments is very natural and healthy. Like Alone said, what constitutes an accomplishment worthy of pride really differs from person to person. On the other hand, humility is also very natural and healthy, and it’s extremely important to not have so much pride that you can no longer actively recognize your own shortcomings.</p>
<p>Pride is more or less an internal emotion that factors into your self-perception. Pride and arrogance are fundamentally different. People who are merely proud are very satisfied with their accomplishments and happy with their lives. Most arrogant people are not truly satisfied and therefore must boast constantly to friends and family (and even strangers) in order to maintain a positive image of themselves. Some even go so far as belittling the accomplishments of others just to portray themselves in a brighter light.</p>
<p>Just my thoughts.</p>
<p>I think more people should do things for the sake of pride. Kids should get A’s because they take pride in everything they do. If they get A’s just for their dream college, and then don’t get in, it will have all been for naught. But you can’t take pride away ;)</p>
<p>So could anyone explain why do people need to be proud? And what’s the difference between being happy about your achievements and being proud of them?</p>
<p>Alone, pride comes with a certain amount of self-confidence and self-esteem that happiness may not come with. For that reason, I think that being proud/having pride is a good thing. I also think being happy about your achievements is just a step away from being proud of them. The difference is that someone who is proud of his achievements recognizes the work he put in to achieving them (pride) along with the result of the action (happiness). For example, I guess you could say one is happy they got into an Ivy league college even if they did nothing to deserve it, but probably wouldn’t be proud of it. But if that same person worked hard, did all the stuff necessary, I think he’d be proud as well as happy about his achievement.</p>
<p>To answer the original question, I think people are entitled to as much pride as they wish. I personally think when pride oversteps once’s achievements to a rather extreme level (at least what society terms as “achievement”) that becomes arrogance. It also involves, as someone else has noted, the belittling of others’ achievements comes with arrogance as well.</p>
<p>Pride is a useless emotion that can lead to arrogance. People with pride are living in the past. My opinion is that being happy about an achievement is the same as being proud of it. The words in that situation can be used interchangably. However, I would argue that true happiness from something can only happen in the present, while the task is being achieved. Your actions should be driven by wanting the happiness that comes while achieving rather than the satisfaction of knowing you achieved in the past(pride). It seems like a technicality but I believe the difference is much more important than most people realize.</p>
<p>With that line of thinking Getsome, everyone should be an alcoholic, as it makes you ‘happy in the present.’</p>
<p>Anyone who’s against someone being proud of their accomplishments wasn’t or won’t be successful because of laziness or a lack in character. It’s the same reason why people identify themselves as communists or socialists; they lack the drive and desire to improve themselves and thus attack the very idea of accomplishment and improvement instead.</p>
<p>Without having pride in yourself, you’re merely a passionless machine that exists. The alternative is hedonism, which obviously can’t last forever.</p>
<p>Nice attempt to make me look like an idiot but alcoholics compromise their ability to have future happiness. Also, pandem, if being drunk is your idea of happiness, you may have some things to sort out in your life. I have nothing against planning ahead, I was merely saying that true happiness does not come from admiring past accomplishments. You don’t need pride to have good character and lack of pride doesn’t make you a communist. In fact, my whole point was that people with perfect character would not need pride as a force to drive their actions.</p>
<p>First off, I’m not an alcoholic and don’t drink.</p>
<p>And if pride in oneself isn’t the main motivator, then what is? Happiness? Explain.</p>
<p>Here’s a quote from a similar topic on another forum that fits well;</p>
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<p>So while you shouldn’t focus on your past accomplishments, recognizing and building upon them is necessary in order to move forward. No past = no future.</p>
<p>No past = no future? That statement is so general that I think it has lost any meaning. And what exactly is building on an accomplishment? I see each accomplisment as a separate thing.</p>
<p>Yes, happiness is the main motivator. What happiness means is a much deeper question that I can’t form a universal answer to.</p>
<p>Think of it as a pyramid. Great advancements in technology have built on previous technology.
Electricity > Circuits > Computing > Networks > Software > Internet (to simplify it). It would have been impossible to just go out and “invent the internet” without the previous accomplishments of others to make it possible.</p>
<p>It’s the same deal with accomplishments.
- Without getting good grades in highschool, you couldn’t have gotten into a good college.
- Without your college degree you couldn’t get a job in your desired field.
- Without your job experience you couldn’t have made some great discovery.</p>
<p>You can’t separate one distinctly from the other; life is a series of connected events. </p>
<p>Otherwise I’m not sure what sorts of “accomplishments” you’re referring to. Tying your shoe? Replacing a flat tire? Without something to build upon, you’re stuck at the lower level of impact.</p>
<p>As to happiness; what about people who gain happiness from accomplishing things? And what about those who are happy drinking themselves to death?</p>