Inferiority Complex - A discussion

Discussion in 'Human Science' started by Quantum Quack, Mar 12, 2009.

  1. Quantum Quack Life's a tease... Valued Senior Member

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    Defined typically in wiki:

    "An inferiority complex, in the fields of psychology and psychoanalysis, is a feeling that one is inferior to others in some way. Such feelings can arise from an imagined or actual inferiority in the afflicted person. It is often subconscious, and is thought to drive afflicted individuals to overcompensate, resulting either in spectacular achievement or extreme schizotypal behavior, or both. Unlike a normal feeling of inferiority, which can act as an incentive for achievement, an inferiority complex is an advanced state of discouragement, often resulting in a retreat from difficulties"

    I find this definition reasonable...do you?
     
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  3. Cyperium I'm always me Valued Senior Member

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    lol, no one wants to be the first to answer

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    Yes, I do think that it is a reasonable definition. How would you help a person that actually is inferior? That was the first question to come to mind. I mean, it isn't that easy to do after all, still we all get into situations when this ability would be needed. Not that I try to avoid those situations, but...
     
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  5. Tnerb Banned Banned

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    I agree with that defination.
     
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  7. Quantum Quack Life's a tease... Valued Senior Member

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    Thinking about it currently.....it ties in with the human pheno of "performance anxiety" or "choking" in sportsman terms.

    I ask why does a professional athlete choke when the demand is actually less than normal.

    eg. A pro basket baller fails a hoop he has taken a million times and is only standing at the line [ typical free shot ]

    I am tending to believe it is simply tied in with the fear of failing other peoples expectations. A form of paranoia that generates under achievement when critically needed as normal achievement.
    The fear of dis-appointing someone elses "deluded" expectations.

    The issue i s really in the defining of what is inferior and what isn't.

    I tend to handle it by talking about specialty instead. A doctor is no more superior to a ditch digger. It is simply a matter of priority and specialization.

    Is a Downs syndrome child inferior to a "normal" child? Not in my estimation. And I am not just being generous either.
     
  8. Cyperium I'm always me Valued Senior Member

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    A Downs syndrome child would be inferior in some respects, I'm not an expert, but I do think that the child with Downs syndrome would have greater difficulties to learn new things, which if the child is worried about being inferior in that respect would be correct, but of course the child isn't inferior in 'value' and the value as such of a child can't be defined by the abilities of that child or how it compares to a "normal" child. Surely we don't love someone because of ability but because of the person itself.

    In the same manner a Downs syndrome child might be inferior in some respects a Downs syndrome child might be superior in some respects too. From my experience people in general that has Downs syndrome seem much happier than other people.

    I think you are correct in the sense that it depends on other peoples expectations, and also of the expectations on oneself. If you have unrealistically high expectations on your own ability (riding high horses) then you will fail those expectations, thus feeling inferior - at least inferior to those that doesn't have that high expectations and fail much less.

    An example (originally from the Bible, but here interpreted a bit differently) would be if you were invited to join a dinner, where the royalty sat at one end of the table and those closest to him sat closer to him. Then we reach a interesting problem relating to this discussion. Where do you sit down? If you sit down closer to the royalty then he might command you to move further away and you would be inferior, but if you sat further away, he might instead say to you to move closer, and you would feel superior. That is - inferior and superior according to your own expectations (and consequently also of the other people at the table that witnessed it and finally not the least the royalty itself).
     
    Last edited: Mar 12, 2009
  9. Quantum Quack Life's a tease... Valued Senior Member

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    or perhaps it is simply the fixation of a poor self esteem to value superiority over inferiority?

    I tend to feel that those that are fixated with issues of superiority and inferiority actually have significant issues of self esteem.

    Reason being is that I guess no one is superior to the other in the eyes of nature. A tidal wave will destroy a monachy just as easilly as it can destroy a pauper.
    Death comes to all regardless of class, race, sex, or intellectual capacity or creative talent.

    In other words in reality we are all treated equally with regards to the things that really count and the issue of superiority only arises because of a sense of feeling somehow able to defy those natural limitations. Which of course is ego mania and self delusion.

    Thus an ant is equal to a human. IMO
     
  10. Cyperium I'm always me Valued Senior Member

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    Yes, but we are equal only in respect to things that make us equal. At the basic level we all have equal right to exist and equal right to be treated fairly. The rain rains on all people regardless of class or ability (perhaps not on those with the ability to reach a shelter), but that's not all that matters, we do have a hierarchy, while we might rise and fall in that hierarchy it's foolish to ignore it and say that there isn't one - in any group of people there is a leader, not necessarily chosen by any of the group and not necessarily outspoken, but rather a accepted fact by the members of the group. This is more clearly seen with children but exists also in adult groups. There is such a thing as someone having a good reputation, or a bad reputation, and many people in a town know about it. There are so many social factors that can clearly affect a person to be either on the loosing side or winning side. Clearly you can say that each person need only to look after himself and not care about the other people, that might average the person to not be neither good nor bad in the eyes of others, but it would be better to engage in the social play than to ignore it.
     
  11. Quantum Quack Life's a tease... Valued Senior Member

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    I agree as in practice this seems to be the case. However I wonder what your thoughts would be on the issue of over-reliance to a belief in superiority or inferiority?
    for example when I look at a successful individual of some so called superiority I think to my self that they have simply had greater fortune [ luck] than I.
    Fortunate to be born into royalty or fortunate to have had a university education or fortunate enough to had been born with great genes....does this make them superior or simply fortunate?
     
  12. Cyperium I'm always me Valued Senior Member

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    They are of course fortunate. Many of them less fortunate than might be expected since responsibility follow successfulness in a way that if you do wrong then it is easier to accuse someone that had greater ability to avoid doing wrong. Also those superior is supposed to take care of those inferior (which is actually followed to some degree, in my experience).

    Also, those superior face the problems of being superior - which of course can vary in degree and number from person to person.

    Finally, a person can be both superior and inferior in different times and situations. We all get lucky sometimes.
     
  13. Quantum Quack Life's a tease... Valued Senior Member

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    so do you think that superiority is an illusion and that equality is the reality, given that "we all get lucky sometimes" and obviously the opposite is true also "we all get unlucky sometimes"
     
  14. visceral_instinct Monkey see, monkey denigrate Valued Senior Member

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    No I think he was making the point that you can be superior at one thing and inferior at another.
     
  15. Cyperium I'm always me Valued Senior Member

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    I think we are more equal than we think we are.

    Superiority might not be a illusion, I think we can rely pretty good on our feelings, at least if it is the correct feeling (feeling that you have the ability to achieve something, is a great feeling and I, at least, are never fooled by it).

    However, our happiness of achieving something might be greater than it should be, in terms of what we achieve. Somebody making his bed might be really glad that he did, while it would rather be correct to not be that glad of something that should be a routine, instead if one were making his bed for the first time in decades he should really be concerned as to why he doesn't do it more often (if speaking in the perspective of adults that is).

    Of course there are people that are more generally inferior in certain abilities, as there are people that are more generally superior in certain abilities. There are no rule that says that people are equal in respect to abilities, as these are more or less randomly distributed (though with more probability towards normal functioning and superiority).

    However, everybody should use their abilities to help others, then there would be less need for those that are inferior in certain abilities to be crippled by it. We should also become better at seeing what each one needs, at least better to see if someone lacks the ability that you can provide them with.

    Also, I believe that we should always try to teach people our abilities, cause some can be taught, and you don't know which abilities can be taught and which can't, since you don't know which people can be taught and which people can't. There is a way to gain abilities. Even such trivial abilities as moving your nostrils or ears can be taught.
     
  16. cosmictraveler Be kind to yourself always. Valued Senior Member

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    Someone who thinks others are better than they are because they feel they are not the same in many ways, education, wealth, families and so on.
     

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