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Does knowledge make people arrogant?

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S Rajasekar Senior Project Manager| Allscripts Bangalore, Karnataka, India
I see a trend where people become arrogant as they gain knowledge/get more experience

People says arrogance is a perception of the observer and subjective but it happens lot in corporate these days , this brings a question "Does knowledge make people arrogant? "
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Jess De Ocampo Lean Six Sigma Professional/Project Manager/Consultant/| . Manila, Ncr, Philippines
That is true but NOT for everybody. Arrogance is an attitude which happens when you allow your knowledge, success, experience, etc. get into your head and look down on others as inferior. Being knowledgeable is not only confined on methodologies, practices but also encompasses emotional and social skills. The humility of character, the altruistic attitude to inspire, empower others would truly define that someone is truly knowledgeable in "all aspects." That is wisdom gained through experience. To be able to do that, always look back at your humble beginnings and remember that you were once in their shoes.
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Aaron Porter
Community Champion
IT Director| Blade HQ Payson, UT, United States
Knowledge and experience do not make a person arrogant. They can be contributing factors for the person who already thinks he or she is better than others, but you also find people who feel inferior behaving in an arrogant manner.

Knowledge and experience can give someone confidence. Confidence can seem like arrogance, especially to someone who has issues with inferiority.

Another variation is the person who has false confidence and cannot see that he or she has not reason to be confident. This can also be viewed by others as arrogance, even though it is not.

I think the dividing line for me is the purpose behind the actions. If done to impress or intimidate someone else, I'd lean toward arrogance.

I work with someone who is very intelligent and outspoken. While I would not call this person humble, I also would not call him arrogant, although it took me a while to figure that out. You might have to get to know someone before you can make the distinction.

I should also point out that people in leadership positions often feel like they have to demonstrate confidence, even when they don't feel it. This can result in arrogant behavior, even though it may not be the intent.
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Nasrullah Mohammed Portfolio Manager| Advanced Electronics Company Riyadh, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Rajasekar - Arrogance comes from your emotions, and a personal insecurity that requires you to lord it over others to try and prove that your hidden belief you're not enough isn't true. That feeling can arise whether or not your knowledgeable. It does, however, tend to recede as true wisdom is achieved, because you no longer wonder if you are sufficient.
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Anonymous
Nice philosophical and psychological topic. Interesting different points of view.

Confidence and Arrogance --not the same

Confidence/confident - positive attitude. Arrogance/arrogant - negative attitude

According to dictionary definition of confidence: a feeling of self-assurance arising from one's appreciation of one's own abilities or qualities. So many definition.

Confidence applies to all. No exceptions: Knowledgeable but confident. Lack of knowledge but also confident. Handsome but confident. Unattractive but also confident. Rich but confident. Middle class but also confident and so on.

Arrogance also applies to all. No exceptions. According to dictionary definition of arrogance: proud in an unpleasant way and behaving as if you are better or more important than other people.
Knowledgeable but arrogant. Lack of knowledge but also arrogant. Rich but arrogant. Middle class but arrogant.

Confidence perceived as arrogance? How do you project your confidence to other people?

Only wise, high EQ master confidence with the absence of arrogance. Arrogance is excessive confidence. I agree look back to humble beginnings to keep your foot on the ground.

Chinese proverb: Arrogance invites ruin, humility receives benefits.
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Anupam India
Arrogance is all about trying to prove yourself. Confidence is about improving yourself.

The choice is all yours
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Sergio Luis Conte Helping to create solutions for everyone| Worldwide based Organizations Buenos Aires, Argentina
First of all, it is a subjective matters while I could say I agree with Mr. Einstein equation (easy to agree with him, isnt it?). Attitude is a matter of culture mainly organizational culture (and obviously personal attribute). And some attitude can be easily confuse with arrogance. Somtime, depending on the style you need to use for the initiative with some type of stakeholders, somebody could say you are arrogant. In my country we use two different words regarding knowledge: "conocer" is what we use regarding all a person adquire from books, "saber" is the ability to apply "in the field" what a person adquire from books. In the field, futbol field for argentinians, the arrogance has no place.
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Sisca Yuliharyani Sr. PM Consultant | Chief Strategy Officer| Indonesia Bandung, West Java, Indonesia
I agree with Lori, and i see so many arrogant people because of their knowledge or the position that they have. But i also know some people with the great experience, knowledge, and also have high position and they attitude is so humble and inspire a lot of people.

I think people with less knowledge will be arrogant, but the people that have more knowledge will act humble because knowledge is very broad and it is endless.

So, knowledge is not the reason someone will act arrogant, the lack of knowledge will create arrogant people.
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Julian Hampson Sr. Advisor, Gas Storage & Transmission Engineering| Enbridge Sarnia, Ontario, Canada
This is too much of a generalization.
I believe that arrogance is related to the disposition of the individual, and is irrespective of the knowledge they possess.
There are arrogant scholars, just as there are arrogant general labourers.

I believe individual perception, and even different cultural norms can also play a part in the belief that a person is acting in an arrogant manner.
This can be exaggerated in the project management arena, where decisions sometimes need to be made quickly, and the project manager's time is often at a premium.
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Eduard Hernandez
Community Champion
Product Operations Program Manager Barcelona, Cataluña, Spain
"Sometimes it's difficult to accept, to recognize one's own mistakes, but one must do it. I was guilty of overconfidence and arrogance, and I was punished for that"

Mikhail Gorbachev
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