Deflection

Today is one of those days that is seems like we should be able to put in a bottle and enjoy for the rest of the summer, but then there is reality of hot/humid days. The sun has been shining brightly and the temperature is 65 degrees, just perfect.

After heavy rains here yesterday, the ground is starting to dry out. With wet soil, I have walked the pavement the last too days. Furthermore, with the sand clay soil here, I am sure that the soil would cake two inches on to the soles of my hiking boots. Maybe I will try hiking tomorrow. With the leaves down here, it is possible to see deep into the woods, and I am enjoying this sight. The red buds are out, and they add to spring feeling here. With the rains, the grass has greened up over night. It feels more like April here.

As we grow up attending classes, it always seemed like gaining knowledge was the right thing to do, after all I do have a Master of Science Degree. But, as I visit the real world, there are those that take comfort in not learning. What a shock. As for people with high intelligence, they are focused on learning something new every day. For those that are well educated with years of experience, it becomes devastating to work with people that refuse to learn. As for a narcissist, learning means that they will lose their insecurity, and they no longer can bluff their way through the real world, but continue to live in their world.

Roger

Essay – Narcissism – Listening – Learning

A narcissist will not take the time to listen or learn, since they already know the world that they are living in at all times. Listening and learning from someone else, for them, is a sign of weakness, and they can never look weak in the eyes of others.

It is clear that a narcissist does learn through school. But, probably the bigger question is how far will they go into advanced education. The problem with advanced education is that the student has to learn that the world is bigger than they are at any given time. I remember Mrs. Beard in English High School come in to the class room asking the question: what is the difference between a freshman and a senior? We all looked perplexed, since we had no idea on where this question was going. She stated that a Freshmen comes in thing that they know everything about all topics and the seniors goes out thinking that they do not know anything about the topic. This is so true to life: when a person is introduced to a topic they think that they know everything about the topic; but, after they have educated themselves and have experience on the topic, they know that they know nothing about the topic. It is interesting on how everyone can become an expert on highway pavement deterioration, since everyone drives on the highway, they are the experts. But, some of the pavement deteriorate faster than others for reasons that are familiar to civil engineers that work in pavements. Although most drivers would stated that the reason for pavement deterioration is based on the pavement, this is not always true. Many highway pavements fail because of poor soil and poor drainage of water under the pavement. Just by placing an overlay or replacing the pavement is not going to give the pavement long term prevention of pavement deterioration, since it requires grade modification. As with a narcissist, the narcissist would only have the knowledge that the pavement needs to be replaced and would argue the point that pavement needs to be replaced. The narcissist would not take the time to study highway embankments to determine if there the grade was causing the deterioration. The same is true in the narcissist life. They will take any topic and argue it to death, but they will not take the time to study the topic before they start making comments.

At some point in time, the narcissist will reach there penical in their education that probably is high school unless they are encouraged to go on in there studies. As stated above, with a high school education, a person can be Jack of all trades. But, as a student gains knowledge in every advanced class that they take, they have to sit there and take the subject in. As their knowledge expands, the intellect of the topic decreases, since they find out that there is more to topic than their little world at the beginning of the course. People of advanced degrees learn that they have to listen and learn from others to combined their knowledge with others to expand the knowledge on the topic at hand. The narcissist is so insecure that extra knowledge will only prevent them from being Jack of all trades.

To put things in perspective, the well educated with experience will advance the quality of life, technology, and science. But, for the narcissists, they will never observe the these advances in our society. Furthermore, since the narcissist will make everyone believe that they have advanced degrees in their little world, the ones with the advanced degrees will see through them. “The narcissist is fooling no one.”

When I graduated from sixth grade, I asked my grandfather why I had to continue with school, since I had a background in carpentry, plumbing, and electrical from working with my dad on the construction of new homes, and my grandfather stated that we learn something new every day. His words have remained with me. As for those that have a high intellect, they strive to learn something new every day of their lives. As for the narcissist, they are too insecure to listen and learn, and they find comfort in thinking that they have a huge knowledge base, when in reality their knowledge base is only skin deep.