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Comment by edmccard | Hacker News Reader

FTA:

"In 1996 Baumeister, now teaching at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, co-authored a review of the literature that concluded that it was, in fact, 'threatened egotism' that lead to aggression. Evil, he suggested, was often accompanied by high self-esteem. 'Dangerous people, from playground bullies to warmongering dictators, consist mostly of those who have highly favorable views of themselves,' he wrote.

It was an astonishing theory..."

I can imagine a group of people who might not be astonished; anyone who has been bullied, and then told they should feel sorry for the bullies because the bullies had "low self-esteem". At least, when it happened to me, my first thought was "Low? More like way too high."

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I'd say either way it's a hasty generalization. I'm very skeptical that there is a high correlation or anti-correlation given how complex people and their social environments can be. In my experience the entire spectrum is covered from "narcissistic prick" to "self-loathing misfit".

It's frustrating to me that people perpetuate the fallacy that high self-esteem leads to schoolyard bullying. And it's mystifying that some critics of the self-esteem movement (such as the author of this article) are as strident in their criticism as they are.

The behavior that bullies exhibit isn't caused by high self-esteem, but by their need to overcompensate for low self-esteem through anti-social actions. They see themselves as inadequate, and they see others as threats. When people have this self-concept, their fight-or-flight response kicks in. Bullies gravitate toward their "fight" instinct, and social recluses toward their "flight" instinct. People with truly high self-esteem don't see others as threats, so they feel no need to treat them as anything other than equals.

Bill Gates and Warren Buffett don't feel the need to talk about how rich they are, or put down people with less money. Similarly, people who are truly confident don't go around talking about how awesome they are or bullying others.

I guess it marks me out as an old person that I find Bill Gates to be a hilarious example of a non-bully.

> Bill Gates and Warren Buffett don't feel the need to talk about how rich they are, or put down people with less money. Similarly, people who are truly confident don't go around talking about how awesome they are or bullying others.

Have you ever read about Bill Gates in his glory days? He was basically Steve Jobs without the fashion sense, but with the complete and total ass-holery (maybe not to the same utmost extent though).

You've been downvoted not because you're wrong but because this is a technical forum. No well-educated psychologist in the world would disagree with you.

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