Is it possible to be too sure of yourself? by HunkaFunk on The Pipeline at IndieMusicPeople

Is it possible to be too sure of yourself?
What ever happened to humility? When did it become cool to consider yourself an expert at everything, and unknowledgable about nothing? Can an individual grow, and improve if they think they are already "there"?

I've always been taught that there is a thin line between confidence and cockiness, was I taught wrong? Is humility the prison of the weak, or the training camp of the strong?

TF

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Bryon Tosoff

11/28/2009 12:24:56 PM ---- Updated 11/28/2009 12:34:46 PM

The answer from me is NO, you can never ever be to sure of yourself, nothing wrong with having that attitude of mind at all

by the way on your use of The word humility,. ever checked it out? be worth it, the root meaning of the word, and also where it came from

anyways we have to separate humility from weakness, sometimes people think we have to be like a little flower just to be looked at and think humility is being quiet and let people push us around

We can be humble yet at the same time be self assured, assertive and confident

There is nothing wrong with expressing oneself in an area or areas that we have developed ourselves in and some people are indeed more insightful and capable then others due to the many paths they have chosen in their lives and the experiences they have gone through...Some people have done more, accomplished more then others and have an incredible knowledge base, supereme understanding and wisdom, yet have humility, get in touch with your own humanity, know yourself, and then you may get what it is all about, sounds like I have some humility dont it, and I am a know it all and at the same time I am confident, self assured and I like me a whole bunch and I exude a positive energy and lift the spirits of everyone I work with and am around.

bryon

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HunkaFunk

11/28/2009 12:49:14 PM

In Buddhism:
Chan (Zen) Master Li Yuansong states that enlightenment can come only after humility - the wisdom of realizing one's own ignorance, insignificance, and lowliness, without which one cannot see the truth.

Humility in Hinduism
To get in touch with your true self, whether you call that God, Brahman, etc., one has to kill the ego. The Sanskrit word AHAMKARA literally translates into The-sound-of-I, or quite simply the sense of the self or ego. When this sound is stilled, you are in touch with your true being.

In Christianity:
Humility is defined as, "A quality by which a person considering his own defects has a humble opinion of himself and willingly submits himself to God and to others for God's sake."

From dictionary: (to be humble)
Thinking lowly of one's self; claiming little for one's self; not proud, arrogant, or assuming; lowly; weak; modest.

Seems to be a trend here.

Bryon, my point is NOT that people should be cowering, timid, and unsure of themselves. Nor should they be self effacing, and weak. I'm just pointing out that the idea of being humble is being overshadowed by the overwhelming trend of individuals believing (rather selfishly) that their self esteem is all that matters, many times at the expense of other's self esteem, and perhaps this is one of the reasons why people treat others with contempt...that's all.

TF

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Bryon Tosoff

11/28/2009 12:58:38 PM

Yeah Tim, good points , thank you and there is so much to this experience and journey we are on
And yes there are some who treat others with contempt and disrespect in the real world and it occurs more often online cause it is so easy to do, because we never have really gotten to know that person and think we can say whatever we want without considering the repercussions and resulting consequences of our actions.

thanks again for bringing this up
bryon

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11/28/2009 1:01:49 PM

People who try to dictate how other people should act have their own issues of humility.

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HunkaFunk

11/28/2009 1:03:58 PM

You're a cool person Bryon. I wish I had the opportunity to meet (and jam with) you, and many others here on IAC. You have been very encouraging to me during times of much anguish, and I am very appreciative of your wisdom. You would make a great teacher (if you aren't already).

Tim

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Tony Vani and Debbie Hoskin

11/28/2009 1:05:29 PM

There is a big difference between "being sure of yourself" and being a "know it all." You can never be too sure of yourself; It's always a good thing as long as you are in touch with reality. Not good to be sure about your ability to jump off of a cliff and survive. Being sure of youself doesn't neccessarily make you a know it all.

Being a "know it all" is a sure sign of pure ignorance. "Tis the fool who believes he is a wise man; the wise man knows he's but a fool."

The "know it alls" of the world never learn a thing because they already know it all.

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HunkaFunk

11/28/2009 1:09:25 PM

Brutisk,

It's not about dictating anything, it's an observation, and a question. I appreciate your insight.

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Bryon Tosoff

11/28/2009 1:14:51 PM

Bluto pointed out "People who try to dictate how other people should act have their own issues of humility."

that is very perceptive and true. insightful

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Bryon Tosoff

11/28/2009 1:17:55 PM

Hey Debbie, valid and important submissions here, thanks for your points of view and quote, and I was at your iacmusic page a few days ago and listened up to most all your tracks. some wonderful songs...I am going back and will be listening again and adding some tunes soon

thanks again for your offerings here and always enjoy reading what you post

bryon

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Conversation Suicide

11/29/2009 1:47:47 AM ---- Updated 11/29/2009 7:06:09 AM

Well.....I'm not the POSTER child for humility....or any shit like THAT...
and I DO Know, one man's EGO, is another man's CONFIDENCE/Ballsy-ness....

But TWO of my favorite truly AMAZING, and HUMBLE people, that existed in the last 70 years, were anything BUT weak.

THESE are TWO great examples of humility with POWER:

Martin Luther King Jr.

and

GHANDI

- Don't forget, as human kind has evolved, the FACE of humility has changed as well.....with MUCH LESS Black and WHITE, and MORE GREY, and a whole LOT MORE Colour.

-just my "not always so" humble opinion

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HunkaFunk

11/29/2009 12:18:15 PM

Dear Phlegm,

I'm with you man. Martin Luther King and Ghandi were (and are) very strong. Their strength came not from themselves, but from their powerful faith. Faith in their beliefs, and faith in their fellow man. To act on this kind of belief takes great courage and humility.
It is not easy to strive for humility (or faith) in this 'me' obsessed world. We all fall flat on our faces all the time. Humility is what drives us all to improve, improve in our skills, and improve as people. That's why the most loved people, and the ones that we all aspire to be like, are the M.L.K.s, Ghandis, Mother Theresas, and Lincolns of the world...not the Ghengis Khans, hitlers, idi amins, and Pol pots.
Thank you for posting sincerely.
TF

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SILVERWOODSTUDIO

11/29/2009 2:37:16 PM

Great insights here thank ewe!

Can i spin this out into a broader theme that of "experts"

our justice system relies on them, as do education and health

Often these "experts" are simply the loudest and most extreme, who have climbed over more humble folk with greater insight, to get to the top

This does not serve society as a whole--- in fact we often spend years unravelling the damage

Humility requires insight, many never will achieve it! imo

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LyinDan

11/29/2009 10:41:26 PM

Is it possible to be too sure of yourself?

I'm sure it is.

It's a situational thing, though. You mean, I think, is it possible to be too sure of yourself when you're actually wrong? I hope that's right. Well, if you're wrong, clearly you're too sure of yourself. However, if you're right, then, no, you're not TOO sure of yourself, you're simply sure of yourself.

?

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Richard Scotti

11/29/2009 10:58:07 PM

I think being "too sure of one's self" is much like being over-confident. If you always think you're doing your best then you have little incentive to try harder and be even better. It's good to be sure of one's self but not TOO sure just like it's good to be confident but not OVER confident. If you're always giving yourself an A+ in every thing you do, there's no room to grow. The right balance of humility and confidence is good for creative growth.

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Sly Witt

12/1/2009 8:36:13 AM

The best definition of 'humility' that I've been taught is "The Truth". If you are really good at something, humility is accepting that with gratitude, it's NOT pretending that you're not good at it. There are some things of which I'm VERY sure of myself, based on fact. There's many more things of which I'm not.

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