A theory of jerks (by Eric Schwitzgebel)
http://aeon.co/magazine/being-human/if-youre-surrounded-by-idiots-guess-whos-the-jerk/Are you surrounded by fools? Are you the only reasonable person around? Then maybe youre the one with the jerkitude
We need a theory of jerks. We need such a theory because, first, it can help us achieve a calm, clinical understanding when confronting such a creature in the wild. Imagine the nature-documentary voice-over: Here we see the jerk in his natural environment. Notice how he subtly adjusts his dominance display to the Italian restaurant situation And second well, I dont want to say what the second reason is quite yet.
--- Snip ---
The moralising jerk is apt to go badly wrong in his moral opinions. Partly this is because his morality tends to be self-serving, and partly its because his disrespect for others perspectives puts him at a general epistemic disadvantage. But theres more to it than that. In failing to appreciate others perspectives, the jerk almost inevitably fails to appreciate the full range of human goods the value of dancing, say, or of sports, nature, pets, local cultural rituals, and indeed anything that he doesnt care for himself. Think of the aggressively rumpled scholar who cant bear the thought that someone would waste her time getting a manicure. Or think of the manicured socialite who cant see the value of dedicating ones life to dusty Latin manuscripts. Whatever hes into, the moralising jerk exudes a continuous aura of disdain for everything else.
--- Snip ---
Interesting tangential comment in here as well; I never knew the source of the word jerkwater: "The jerk-as-fool usage seems to have begun as a derisive reference to the unsophisticated people of a jerkwater town: that is, a town not rating a full-scale train station, requiring the boiler man to pull on a chain to water his engine."
http://aeon.co/magazine/being-human/if-youre-surrounded-by-idiots-guess-whos-the-jerk/
DonCoquixote
(13,615 posts)"And in social battles, the sweetheart will always have some disadvantages: the sweethearts talent for seeing things from his opponents perspective deprives him of bold self-certainty, and he is less willing to trample others for his ends. Social movements sometimes do well when led by a moralising jerk. I will not mention specific examples, lest I err and offend."
In other words, Barack tires to be a sweetheart, and as a result, gets trampled. Demcorats try to be fair, we get trampled, unles we have a jerk leading us like Bill Clinton.
Warpy
(110,913 posts)and it's not a bad read: http://www.amazon.com/Assholes-A-Theory-Aaron-James/dp/0385535651
excringency
(105 posts)this book in a graduate seminar. When it came time to discuss this book my cohorts analyzed me through the lens of this work. Their findings, I am not an asshole, but I do have great potential.