I’ve been pontificating about it to myself for long enough to form it into that question. When I think of someone virulently MCS, the content is almost always their perception of others as lessers - NPCs, background characters, or fodder. They are the hero and they could cut through a horde of others and they’re frustrated by rules and regulations that say they can’t. But I might be so bold as to say that their problem isn’t that they see themselves as special, but that they see themselves as exceptional.
The problem is that they’re rude to service workers, upset when people step in front of their camera, or judge the choices of others (especially for the effect it has on you e.g. opining during a marriage ceremony). Therefore my thesis of special vs exceptional is that if you are filming yourself on a busy street but you don’t obstruct people nor react to people walking through the shot, you’re not hurting anyone. You can take up space, but you should be polite while doing it to be someone who cohabitates this one world. You can think yourself a person with a hidden demon within them who must prove themselves to be the best and be monstrously disappointed when you finish second all the while being a weird anime person, but cheating, misrepresenting yourself to others, or expecting others to help you is where you cross the line.
So all that being said, perhaps it’s not a problem to think yourself in a unique position to solve a problem no one else has - perchance help people along the way. After all, no one else is you nor has anyone ever been nor will anyone ever be. The world is a collection of individuals. You can think you’re cool, smart, mysterious, kind, forgiving, or hang your hat on some other piece of personal esteem and be a great friend, peer, and comrade. On a tangential note, I like how in prominent MMA promotions, after someone is declared the victor, the camera begins to focus on them and their celebration instead of zooming in on someone who is visibly very frustrated by their loss.
You neednt even wrap your brain around the boundless scale of everyone’s genius in some aspect nor make yourself less by reminding yourself of it when you think highly of yourself - it is a lesson to learn if you’re belittling others.
I’d really like your input and opinions on the matter.
“I am, somehow, less interested in the weight and convolutions of Einstein’s brain than in the near certainty that people of equal talent have lived and died in cotton fields and sweatshops.” ― Stephen Jay Gould, The Panda’s Thumb: More Reflections in Natural History
I may not be the best at anything, but I’m good at my job, and I often receive positive feedback for my work. However, when I think about what truly makes me feel valued, it’s the love I receive from my family and friends. Knowing that I’m willing to live and die for the red flag gives me a deep sense of purpose and belonging. I truly love communism; I love humanity.
learning to love humanity again brought me back from the brink. for a while at my lowest i really wanted to see it all burn down
feels like every waking moment we are being told to fear, distrust, and hate our fellow humans. but god it is liberating to feel like you have purpose again, even if it’s just carrying the torch for the future
we might just end up being the left’s equivalent of Irish monks preserving pre-Christian stories and literary works during the dark ages but they still did something that led to humanity’s advancement
feels like every waking moment we are being told to fear, distrust, and hate our fellow humans. but god it is liberating to feel like you have purpose again, even if it’s just carrying the torch for the future
for a while at my lowest i really wanted to see it all burn down
How did you get out of this, if you don’t mind sharing?
Everyone is a unique person with their own talents, but unless you’re like the LeBron James of a particular thing, you’re probably not that big of deal, and that’s okay.
I think the primary difference is whether you see distinct characteristics in yourself, or if you see a lack of distinct characteristics in others.
I don’t think I’m special, but I do think I’m lucky, and I’m thankful for that. In fact, I’m pretty mediocre at a lot of things. The things I’m good or decent at aren’t anything very special either. I’m just trying to work on and improve myself—not to meet some standard set by society, but for my own self-fulfillment
Im just a lil guy trying to make it in a very big world.
i’ve always kind of thought of myself as in the role of the ‘loser’ that people forget/dont want to think about, so i kind of hate this entire line of thought. don’t take this personally because i’ve had and have toxic thought patterns as well. obviously you don’t have to hate yourself to avoid ‘main character syndrome’ but when i see things like ‘You can think yourself a person with a hidden demon within them who must prove themselves to be the best and be monstrously disappointed when you finish second’ i worry about toxic thought processes. every single person wants to win and doesn’t want to lose, this doesn’t make you unique. people might have better and worse methods of coping with loss or victory, but its something we all have to deal with. this is how i think when i’m unmedicated or otherwise upset and at my most toxic. i simultaneously think i’m better than everyone around me and worse at the same time. the sentiment ‘I like how in prominent MMA promotions, after someone is declared the victor, the camera begins to focus on them and their celebration instead of zooming in on someone who is visibly very frustrated by their loss.’ also rubs me the wrong way, ideally the context of a sporting event is such that the ‘loser’ is not shamed and congratulates the victor as well, both of them glad to contribute to knowledge and development of the sport. like a scientist shouldn’t be upset when their hypothesis is disproven, they should be glad to have furthered their knowledge. im a weirdo but i always thought the greek-style war-like sporting mindset of valorizing victory and shaming defeat regardless of context was a toxic cultural current.
ummm everyone else literally is my lesser. i’m the best and most important person to ever exist.
but i’m not rude to service workers though, it’s a little something called noblesse oblige, sweaty. a peasant like you would never understand.
I just consider myself the local oaf
The main character thing is more about seeing other people as NPC’s and disregarding their humanity. Seeing yourself as special does not preclude you from also seeing others as special.
The main character thing is more about seeing other people as NPC’s and disregarding their humanity. Seeing yourself as special does not preclude you from also seeing others as special.
I exalt myself such that I don’t place limits or confines on my identity. I might become anything i see fit, for the time I need of it. The only regulation of this is my own natural tendencies towards certain action and outlook, and any hard physical limits - I was never going to be a pilot because of a photic sneeze reflex - this is the stuff i permit to limit and confine the possible
So having done that, having no sense of self that is intrinsically limiting, it can come off as Main Character-y. Some would call it deeply unrealistic. But I’m only giving myself the space to grow in any direction I wish, and I do so with the idea that I’m pretty smart, and there aren’t many doors that aren’t open to me at all. I’m pretty practical about this in practice. But I find myself constantly learning and of a mindset to become my best self, and then enrich others with what I learn. Spread the sense of what’s possible, of what can be done, and try to make people’s lives better in a way that has a mind to flattening hierarchy
I feel like it’s a decent place for any human to be, as long as it’s flexible. As long as you can admit there’s someone who might be able to do that task better than you, and that’s ok, you shouldn’t put limits on yourself, not via class, not via training/education, not via specialization. You should strive to be as adaptable as possible so that you can be who and what you need to be at all times.
I feel like this is substantially different from acting like you’re the Dovakhin in Skyrim or something - running around as a bulldozing chaos demon that crashes into people’s lives, disrupts them profoundly, before fucking off to ransack the next town with a growing body count in your wake - metaphorically of course - this is a shit ass way to live. It’s narcissistic, ego-maniacal, and harmful.
Those people need ego death. Like a nice huge dose of acid and just taken to their lowest point, and rebuilt… or something anyway
I think we should work towards being special, it isn’t something just born into you like the protagonist in so many fantasy novels. And remember that for every person who saw something special in you, that you could also keep an eye out for what’s special in other people.
Does your specialness translate into feeling superior to other people? Idk
