Snobbery & Self-Image

--

[FromSabaWithLove]

YAY PT 2!! ❤❤ you're so coool!!! best youtuber ever!!!!

[GuiltyFeat]

Are there also cases where that insecure desire to belong actually leads to positive outcomes? Is it possible that while come of this desire to be "in" is narcissistic, there is also an element of aspiration, of self-improvement. An undeveloped mind may look at Guernica, for example and remain bewildered. Sometimes growth comes from snobbery. I don't understand Picasso, but I want to belong to the group that does. So I force myself to look beyond the superficial. I learn more about the artist and about his intentions. I learn about his evolution as a painter and I come to Guernica again with fresh eyes. I learn about the Spanish Civil War, I learn about cubism and surrealism. Am I an irretrievable snob or an auto-didact? Does it matter what my initial motivation was? As I make an effort to be securely "in" I also come to a greater understanding of how little that is worth. My snobbery is what has led me to abandon my snobbery.

I don't even know if any of that makes sense, but I really enjoyed both your videos on this topic. Thank you.

[znck]

Oh, this is somehow relevant to my "dilemma" (it, I think, also very loosely ties to GuiltyFeat's comment). I grew up in a countryside, in quite a conservative area, where being a "book worm of serious literature" and being, say, interested in stuff of "(high) culture" was seen as very snobbish. "Who do you think you are" kind of implicit messages (at least that's how I perceived it). Today, in my student years, my interests haven't changed, but I noticed how sensitive I've become to the arrogance of the "wanna-be" intellectuals, to their concerns with the "signs of membership" to intelligentsia, to snobbery in general, etc. I think I see it even where there's none, heh. And I often feel very annoyed with people who, in my eyes, act in such ways (which is then followed by telling myself that I'm imagining it and that there is no reason to feel that way). Funnily enough, in this sense I am also preoccupied with self-image. Though conversely, I am trying constantly not to appear like a snob, trying to show that "I am not like them" (possibly failing miserably), but also trying to be part of the community of genuinely curious. Different kind of preoccupation but a preoccupation nonetheless. Does it make sense? Sorry, I had to share this because you uploaded this video just as I was preoccupying myself with this theme. Coincidence, heh! Btw, I find your content really interesting and you a captivating speaker. Thank you!