An outward serious expression with an egoistic attitude reflects real callousness and empty shell
Genuine knowledge and experience leads to wisdom. Wise people know how to control their ego!
Do those that will respond have genuine knowledge or think they have genuine knowledge?
Cheers
Dear Abhijit !
Lovely thought, Thank you.
Personally. I prefer to stick to a more genuine attitude. Things work better for me, that way !
Genuine knowledge and experience leads to wisdom. Wise people know how to control their ego!
I feel that generally genuine knowledge grounds a person. This grounding does not let ego issues hamper the relationships and smooth functioning.
There is a saying in India which translated into English may be 'A grain that is hollow from inside makes a lot of noise.'
Generically, knowledge (K) that requires humbleness does not combine with ego (E). As a mere first approximation for this problem, I suggest an exponential relation with the introduction of a new variable: E=1/K^I, where I is the dimension of the intelligence space or simplicity, and not a simple inverse as in the time of Einstein.
... In other words, humbleness (H), Knowledge (K), and intelligence (I) may be related by: H=K^I.
By the way, all real knowledge is genuine.
As a person becomes truly knowledgeable, her or his ego goes down and s/he becomes humbler.
Stupidity combined with arrogance and a huge ego will get you a long way.
--- Chris Lowe
Knowledge is power & there is no limit to the knowledge as it has no end .It is the fact for us as a human being that with all the gain knowledge understanding which we have acquired very often are forgetting the fact that inner voice of our silence has praised us in to the position of real knowledgeable identity endorse in our family surrounding & for our identity & development in our social fabrics we often miss the play of our conscious & subconscious mind.
With this we have gain genuine real knowledge & for this we have to cultivate our real knowledge under our garland with a rosy fragrance so that this may spread the surrounding areas & this is a very purpose of our getting the real knowledge with our hard labor & it is a likely that we may have past a sleepless night .
Real genuine knowledge may be the out come of our previous action of our lives which may have transformed under a grace of our present life & with our knowledge we have not to search for simplicity ,honest approach ,reasonable understanding all the problems coming to us & last but not the least that there would never remain any sort of our EGO in our honest mode of life .
This is my personal opinion
I agree with the Chris Lowe quote that you selected, dear Subhash. “Stupidity”, “Arrogance” and a “Giant ego” are in fact an explosive combination, dear Subhash. Might stretch any mind.
Dear Marcel: Is always possible to select genuine sentences from knowledgeable people.
Few educated people sometimes think they know everything.
Real expert knows what he can and what he can not, and therefore is humble.
What factors are most important in the spread of infectious? temperature, humidity or both.
Why is ego bad? Why must we be humble? Why people keep repeating this but nobody explains why? This is not evident at all. Please, no moral answers. Asking for humbleness is already evidently moral and morals do not have to do with knowledge! Why is it unseemly for people to be proud of what they do well? Why do people resent another person's excellence? What do we indirectly allow for the silencing of excellence by demanding humbleness?
Best regards, Lilliana
Yes Genuine knowledge always comes from our actual practices and experienced. so it helps to become Egoless. Sant Tukaram, Dnyaneswar, and various great personalities are examples of it. I also never criticize any one i satisfied with my own work with respect others work. if we follow it we get Heaven in earth
How do you define ego given that reading or thinking (e.g. about existing knowledge) also implies being disconnected from others therefore showing one dimension of ego?
Does genuine Knowledge makes your ego less?
Ego by itself is not bad, it is a neutral term just like self-image, self-esteem, self-importance etc. But when ego increases, a person can turn out to be egocentric or worse which carries a negative connotation.
Think genuine knowledge can make a person ego less - reason being when a person diving / digging deeper and deeper into the knowledge:
Think a person is like a bottle of drink must be 100% filled, either you fill more with knowledge i.e. leave less capacity for ego or fill more with ego and less with knowledge. Think the decision is up to us what we want to fill up more. Note: when the bottle filled with more / too much ego, egocentric or worse can kicks-in that can ruin the bottled drink.
Dear George, I am still concerned about how quality work is downplayed because of the personality of its author and how hard it is for excellent academics to survive and to stand out because of this forced humility. People are actually punished because they are happy or proud of their work. It is even "wrong" to tell colleagues that they have received good reviews, or that they have done this or that, etc. I personally like to hear colleagues tell me good news about their success, and I do not consider it "ego" when someone tells me of how well accepted his or her work has been. It is my experience of many years that this forced humility is brought about usually by envy, by colleagues who prefer to say that all academics are "equally talented" and "on the same scale". Genius has ego. It is inevitable. If we are going to criticize genius for that and allow envy to flourish even more, academia will finally succumb to mediocrity. I have brilliant colleagues who never speak about their accomplishments in order not to be accused of "grandeur". The problem is most mediocre colleages call "grandeur" any word that comes out of the mouth of the best and most successful colleagues. Not all academics are equal: some are better than the majority. This "humility" rule is addressed at keeping the peace so that mediocre people "don't feel bad" about their mediocrity. Academia should applaud the brightest.
Best regards, Lilliana
People with too much ego have a false sense of self worth. They can not understand the power of humility. True knowledge can gradually take them to the path of humility and compassion.
I have to give my sincere congratulations and to thank Abhijit for this intelligent question. Only after some time, I suppose that I understood their deeply meaning, and also after reading some of the answers. This discussion made me remember a wise answer of Hanno about parachutes. Nevertheless, we are discussing ideas (as always) not persons. Perhaps some words do not mean the same for all. There are clear differences between Ego, Greatness and Proud. Ego is intrinsically unwise for a person of knowledge, as it seems that Einstein or Socrates indirectly meant. Humbleness, intelligence, knowledge, greatness and proud can cohabit together. They are compatible or, perhaps, even complementary, I suppose. I have a tremendous proud when I see the intelligence of some students, for example, or when I see the brilliant achievements that they are able to reach. That is not Egocentrism or stupidity. Einstein and Socrates, for example were great. They did not cultivated their Ego. If someone is absorbed or is focused with real knowledge, there is not space for Egos. He/she is walking/running always in the opposite direction. Also the order of factors in this Einstein Equation (as in my symbolic exponential approximation) may be perhaps changed. In the learning process, which can give knowledge, is the humility and intelligence, perhaps even much more than the opposite.
I must agree with the responses here, but I have seen individuals in academia who think their "knowledge" makes them look like some god -- in reality, this gives them a feeling of superiority over others. This has nothing to do with wisdom, so in some cases, the ego may inflate with their own perception of knowledge. This is probably human nature and we cannot really change it. You often come across people who stare you down, almost asking "Do you know who I am?" True researchers create new knowledge to be engaged in the scholarly process, and not to be deified.
The discussion already carried out is quite informative and beautiful. I do not know whether I will be successful in putting out this concept of Dr. Muhammad Iqbal, the national poet of Pakistan, which divides the ego into two parts. These are the negative ego and the positive ego. The concept is that the negative ego is the thing that every human being must conquer and that this must be eliminated. I think that it is knowledge that truly does that by creating a humbling feeling that we understand very little. On the other hand this knowledge gives the human a better understanding of the grandeur and splendor of the nature and creation. This constructs his positive ego, elevates his soul and mind in the search of truth which is the ultimate goal of every human being. Truth though may not be entirely visible to all and that the different parts are visible to different communities which leads to disagreements but it is the common objective that must be the binding force of humanity.
In my opinion, genuine knowledge --which may come with time, passion and effort - leads us to understand, among other things, the shallowness of the Ego as a social convention: The way in which our lives can be impoverished by trying to build a self-image --for the others and for ourselves- to match what society expects of us. In this sense, I think, true knowledge leads to humility. We are less concerned with things like reputation or fame. I do not think that this knowledge leads us to humility in the sense of feeling inferior to others or make us prone to yield to the will of others. It is a kind of humility that teaches us to respect others and to understand --or try to understand-- their situation, actions or way of being, whatever they may be .
Knowledge travels in the wings of fame. How else can your discoveries become known to the rest of humanity?
Lilliana
The more you understand the less or you know. -continue learning
Or
The more you know the better you are. -feel they are perfect and need little learning on top of their education
Perspective and personality affect those two realities of knowledge differently.
“Most misunderstandings in the world could be avoided if people would simply take the time to ask, "What else could this mean?”
― Shannon L. Alder
“The ego relies on the familiar. It is reluctant to experience the unknown, which is they very essence of life.”
― Deepak Chopra
There is a saying among the Hindus that "The Tree That Bears Much Fruit Bows Low".
Stupidity combined with arrogance and a huge ego will get you a long way.
----Chris Lowe
Did Chris Lowe belong to this category given that experience is associated with wisdom?
I agree with Ljubomir: «Wise people know how to control their Ego»
It is really true that knowledge removes ego from a person and make him/her be humble towards the others.
It is just similar to an apple tree. When apples appear on the tree and becomes fully ripped all the branches comes near to the reach of the common man (similar to a man with knowledge not having the ego but very humble to the others).
Perhaps the relation cause-effect is the converse. Who seeks to pretend that he knows, does not learn. Who does not care what others think of him, strives more to know. In other words, the ego seeks applause of others, titles, labels... does not seek knowledge.
It should. But we have some people with high knowledge are not affable, not approachable and not consistent. Genuinely they should be other way round.
I'm sure it does!!! I've been able to experience some examples in my life - including one since a few months - that daily demonstrate this interesting theory. I was able to learn from very famous surgeons when I was younger and they were all examples of humility and simplicity. I've so been able to learn a lot of interesting things and I'm really grateful for this. At the contrary, I've had to work with very low leveled one and the minimum I could say is that their ego is incommensurable, turning their behavior in something close to madness. I'm quite sure that this is not specific of my field and that we can meet such people everywhere... Giving a gun and an official tag to a stupid guy won't make him become more clever, it will make him more dangerous..
Genuine knowledge is nothing but acknowledging fragility and brittleness of the whole creation.
Ego’s compulsive preoccupation with future.
Becoming aware of oneself and “living for the next moment,” leads to egoic mind pattern, and the possibility of choosing to give the full attention to that moment arises.
http://fitnesskite.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/StillnessSpeaks.pdf
Genuine knowledge make a man humble as genuine knowledge can't be obtained by egoistic approach.
Yes, Prabhat,
Egoistic people remain in complex as if they know everything. Actually they don't know.
Dear Dr. Abhijit,
In your question, kindly define 'genuine knowledge'. Commenters should know whether or not you are referring to this with materialistic of philosophical point of view.
In my philosophy, there is nothing called 'genuine knowledge'. I think you are referring to 'genuine information' by saying 'genuine knowledge'.
Regards,
MKD
How can you judge someone else you never met or meet a couple of minutes per day and do not have access to their mental states? You can only properly judge yourself, right?
There is no correlation between geniune knowledge and ago because the latter depends on nature of person.
Thus, the level of ego is a biological trait/syndrome, and different biological traits are not closely correlated across individuals?
By the way, Einstein was not a biologist, so I presume/expect that the equation Ego = .... might be a bit more complex including more factors?
Why do you think that wisdom is reflected in simple statements?
Dear Dr Brignoli
The more knowledge of the person makes him see how a youngster in front of the great universe and the greatest maker and makes him humble himself to the ability of the Lord.
Regards
Wise people use their intelligence to cover up their egoistic mannerisms which unknowingly seeps into their behaviour. They cannot be blamed for this behaviour because it is an entropic change that causes this imbalance.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/283716861_An_unsatisfied_body_deteriorates_the_soul_and_so_its_experience
Article An unsatisfied body deteriorates the soul and so its experience
'Einsteiner' wrote somewhere: I have problems with general statements (probably based on impressions)
Do general statements underly discrimination?
Although the absorption of greater amounts of information can have an impact on ego, whether positive or negative, the effects will be offset if people were to focus not on the status education grants them but on how they can use what they know to create a higher quality of life for both themselves and others.
http://www.huffingtonpost.in/entry/does-knowledge-create-ego_b_8124908
Can we doubt Einstein’s equation about Knowledge and Ego?
The equation suggests that the more knowledge the less ego or that the more knowledge, the less need there is to shore up one’s self-esteem...
http://www.fewererrors.com/2013/11/01/ego-can-tamed-knowledge/
Dear All,
I would like to modify Ljubomir’s first contribution. Wise people do not need to prove their ego. However, petty and mediocre people/scientists have a permanent need to prove their ego.
Human mind is more complex and it is very difficult to correlate the different attributes of scientist or simply knowledge and ego. From my personal experience,a real contributor having vast knowledge are in general very soft and kind hearted personality.The question of ego in them is practically zero. DR. Rajendra Prasad, DR. Abdul Kalam, Dr. Radhakrishanan , Dr. C. V.Raman, and so many are the examples. Instead, You can find more simplicity in them in their life styles.
Ego is a construct of cluttered mind and can result out of any kind of attainment like knowledge, wealth, power, status, position, etc. Knowledge does not instil ego instead it inspire thoughtfulness, realization and capaciousness. The more knowledge you acquire the more you come to know how much more is there to be known and discover. However, people with half baked or peripheral knowledge develop a feeling of superiority resulting in ego. They are trapped in an false impression of self competence, but in reality they are not; so, they use ego as a mask to hide their fears and vulnerabilities. True knowledge makes you perceptive and humble.
Human knowledge is relative, confined to observation and the nature of mind.
http://www.humanbasics.org/Human_nature/human_nature.html
To know, is to know that you know nothing.
That is the meaning of true knowledge.
...By Socrates
I think ego is evolved due to status of a man in the society. Status is a social character. But knowledge is not a social character, as it is achieved by intelligence, concentration and work. If a scientist has an ego, it is due to its social status.
And I think that people believing in maintaining ego, may not be better in maintaining excellence in knowledge.
That is my opinion.
The more knowledge, the lesser ego and vice versa!
"There’s no getting around it. From Nikola Tesla to Steve Jobs, from Sir Isaac Newton to Albert Einstein, from Galileo Galilei to Marie Curie, from Leonardo Da Vinci to Henry Ford; history is littered with examples of average people who changed the world not because they were born geniuses, but because they never gave in to societal pressure, drawbacks and adversities along the way. They all produced great work. They all made world-changing breakthroughs. Persistence and doggedness, sooner or later, pay off...
Whatever you do, make sure to choose wisely. Your life is a direct result of the choices you make. Let go of your ego. Choose self-mastery. Choose humbleness and humility. Remember, no man is an island. The more knowledge you acquire, the less arrogant you become. Every day is a new day. Forget about your pride and ego; it’s not about you, it’s about the value you add to the society..."
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/more-knowledge-lesser-ego-vice-versa-njoftime-io?trkInfo=VSRPsearchId%3A577811291469089036302%2CVSRPtargetId%3A8249995551053524052%2CVSRPcmpt%3Aprimary&trk=vsrp_influencer_content_res_name
Dear All,
Everything said and written, I would like to differ on this. Everybody is aware about the scientific discussions between two stalwarts of their own time in the field of astronomy. Sir Arthor Edington and equally great nobel laureat of Indian origin Prof. Subrhmanyan Chandrashekhar ( well known for the "Chandrashekhar limit" in the context of black holes) is such a prominant example where the former has dominated the discussions with a dash of ego.
I don't think Ego is related to knowledge, i haven't seen any people having ego who have genuine knowledge. But as the question is raised then i might think there may be some people having Ego with genuine knowledge. But it is quite common see if any two persons meet and both have knowledge about the topic and if one exceeds the other then the other might feel bad and with that ego will start i think, this is one case. But in the other if we take the example of a teacher and student in that if student excels then 93% of teachers will feels good for his student but the remaining may feel that i taught him and he excelled so he will feel bad and this will result in ego.
Ego is a sense of person's self-respect/self-esteem, looking down upon others and considering him/her to be the best, which often is a false identity. The knowledge is infinite and the path of life is an experiment. When we learn from others, we experiment it, with our life. If it works, we make it a part of our life, and if it doesn’t, we simply move forward with life. This is the process of life, where we learn & grow & evolve. As we go on experimenting with our life, we come across a schedule, where with every action of the day, we evolve and get better and better on the path. Ego is a self-destructive attribute that makes persons hesitant to learn from others because more than considering themselves as the best in comparison to others.
The human ego start large and with time due to time action and increased knowledge become less and lass. But still large, especially when it is left without punishment where it alter to real callousness.
Regards
"All I know is that I know nothing".This wise credo of Socrates is like a golden section. Every human being is unique, every event is unique, every knowledge is unique, every word is unique... Ego is a grain of sand in the infinite universe.
Egocentrism is one of the source of restriction of knowledge, lack of acceptance of change and logical/ needful improvisation. If there is genuine knowledge then it will support to reduce the ego (This ego is different from freudian ego structure) in individual.
I agree with the golden rule "I know that I know nothing". My post degree teacher used to show me the many books he had, and told me with genuine concern , "the more I study, I see the less I know." It was a very wise pathologist, and did not hesitate to ask everyone, including students on a subject that he didn¨t dominate. He showed his disciples that this humble attitude makes anyone progress much more than pride.
Knowledge grows when shared. A person with genuine knowledge knows that ego restricts sharing and relations with others. Genuine knowledge entails sharing of knowledge and helping others. A genuinely knowledgeable keep his/her pride away, check excessive ego, spend every moment of life journey happily and leave this world with good reputation.
"We must all suffer from one of two pains: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. The difference is discipline weighs ounces while regret weighs tons." - Jim Rohn
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