At the top

“…why, in giving your estimate of a man, do you prize him wrapped and muffled up in clothes…”

In his essay “Of the inequality amongst us” (Essays, Book I-42) Montaigne asks why we don’t judge humans by their own gifts. “We commend a horse for his strength and sureness of foot”, so Montaigne, “and not for his rich caparison; a greyhound for his speed of heels, not for his fine collar...” So why then don’t we just humans for their own qualities? Someone may have many servants, a beautiful house, much power, many thousand pounds a year: all these are about him, but not in him. If you buy a horse, you want to see him without a horse blanket; you want to see him naked and open to your eye. So, “why, in giving your estimate of a man, do you prize him wrapped and muffled up in clothes? He then discovers nothing to you but such parts as are not in the least his own, and conceals those by which alone one may rightly judge of his value. ‘Tis the price of the blade that you inquire into, not of the scabbard: you would perhaps not bid a farthing for him, if you saw him stripped.” … “Measure [a person] without his stilts; let him lay aside his revenues and his titles; let him present himself in his shirt. Then examine if his body be sound and sprightly, active and disposed to perform its functions. What soul has he? Is she beautiful, capable, and happily provided of all her faculties? Is she rich of what is her own, or of what she has borrowed? Has fortune no hand in the affair? … Is she settled, even and content? This is what is to be examined, and by that you are to judge of the vast differences betwixt man and man.” This is what counts, so Montaigne. Power and wealth are mere outer appearances. Nevertheless, we are blinded by them, and we ignore the actual person. That is foolishness: “If we consider a peasant and a king, a nobleman and a vassal, a magistrate and a private man, a rich man and a poor, there appears a vast disparity, though they differ no more, as a man may say, than in their breeches.”
You can argue that having power, money and possessions does have advantages. However, they don’t make those who have them better persons. Even more, those on the top are usually worse off than ordinary humans. If you see those on the top in private, “you will see nothing more than an ordinary man, perhaps more contemptible than the meanest of his subjects: … cowardice, irresolution, ambition, spite, and envy agitate him as much as another”. In other words, as Montaigne explains by quoting Seneca: Although an ordinary man has less wealth and power than someone at the top, “the one is happy in himself; the happiness of the other is counterfeit.”
Here we have come to the heart of this essay. Montaigne will certainly not deny that having some wealth is better than being poor. As a lord, he knew that having some wealth frees you from much misery and from the basic limitations of life. Indeed, he was a lord, but only a little one, though one with relations in the highest circles. And just because of those relations with the top, he knew how life there was. Despite all praise that the one at the top receives, Montaigne knew that “he is but a man at best, and if he be deformed or ill-qualified from his birth, the empire of the universe cannot set him to rights.” Wealth and power don’t make you a better person than you actually are. “What of all that, if he be a fool? Even pleasure and good fortune are not relished without vigour and understanding… Where the body and the mind are in disorder, to what use serve these external conveniences: considering that the least prick with a pin, or the least passion of the soul, is sufficient to deprive one of the pleasure of being sole monarch of the world… Assuredly, it can be no easy task to rule others, when we find it so hard a matter to govern ourselves... I am very much of opinion that it is far more easy and pleasant to follow than to lead; and that it is a great settlement and satisfaction of mind to have only one path to walk in, and to have none to answer for but a man’s self.”
Being at the top doesn’t make you happy, nor does being extremely wealthy and living in abundance. “Nothing is so distasteful and clogging as abundance,” Montaigne tells us. However, – what Montaigne also wants to tell us – the problem is that many at the top think it does. And those at the top do not only think that such a life is the best there is because they are at the top, but in addition they are surrounded by people who make them believe that life there is the best there is and that they themselves are the best. Moreover, they choose such people around them. No wonder then, that they think to fulfil a divine mission and that they deserve the Noble Prize for that. Here, too, Montaigne holds up a mirror to them. Like all rulers, also Alexander the Great, King of Macedon (356-323 BC) was surrounded by flatterers. They told him that he was the son of Jupiter. However, Montaigne tells us, one day Alexander was wounded, and seeing the blood streaming from his wound, he said: “What say you now, my masters, is not this blood of a crimson colour and purely human? This is not of the complexion of that which Homer makes to issue from the wounded gods.”
Let me end this blog in the same way as Montaigne ended his essay: Each person’s way of life shapes his own fortune.

Random quote
We live in a possessed world. And we know it. It would not be unexpected for anyone if the madness suddenly broke out in a frenzy that would leave our poor European humanity in numbness and foolishness, with the engines still spinning and the flags still fluttering, but the mind gone. 

Johan Huizinga (1872-1945) 

Narcissism

The nymph Echo spied Narcissus, who had been lost in a wood, and she became immediately infatuated, following him, waiting for him to speak so her feelings might be heard. Echo came close enough so that she was revealed, and attempted to embrace him. Horrified, he stepped back and told her to “keep her chains”. Heartbroken, Echo wasted away, losing her body and only her voice remained.
Nemesis, the goddess of revenge, heard the pleas of a young man, Ameinias, who had fallen for Narcissus but was ignored and cursed him. Nemesis listened, and proclaimed that Narcissus would never be able to be loved by the one he fell in love with.
After spurning Echo and Ameinias, Narcissus became thirsty and found a pool of water. Leaning down to drink, Narcissus sees his reflection. Not realizing it was his own reflection, Narcissus fell deeply in love with it. Thus Nemesis’ curse came true, for unable to leave the allure of this image, Narcissus eventually realized that his love could not be reciprocated. He melted away from the fire of passion burning inside him, eventually turning into a gold and white flower.
(From: Wikipedia (adapted))

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Narcissus fell in love with himself, an impossible love. Psychologists used the myth and described narcissism as a grandiose sense of self-importance, a lack of empathy for others, a need for excessive admiration, and the belief that one is unique and deserving of special treatment. (source) Although at first, when you meet a narcissistic person, you may like him (a narcissist is more often a man than a woman), because he is charming and nice, over time you’ll feel ignored, uncared about, and unimportant, for a narcissist has at least five of the following characteristics:

1. A grandiose sense of self-importance, and exaggerating achievements and talents
2. Dreams of unlimited power, success, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love
3. Requires excessive admiration
4. Believes he is special and unique, and can only be understood by, or should associate with other special or high-status people or institutions
5. Lacks empathy for the feelings and needs of others
6. Unreasonably expects special, favourable treatment or compliance with his wishes
7. Exploits and takes advantage of others to achieve personal ends
8. Envies others or believes they’re envious of him
9. Has “an attitude” of arrogance or acts that way
(source; in fact from the DSM-5 mental disorders manual).

You may think that each person has narcissist traits to some degree, but the difference between a normal person and a narcissist is that the latter has these traits to an extreme degree and that it is hard to talk with him about it. Moreover, it’s always you, who must give in, if you meet a person with a narcissistic personality disorder (NPD). I found this accurate description of the difference between a normal person and a narcissist: “If you tell a ‘normal’ person they can’t come in, they may ask why but they will accept the boundary that’s been set. If you tell someone with NPD they can’t come in, they will try to break the door down. If you bolt the door, they will try the windows. If you board up and bolt the windows, they will try to make a hole in the roof. If that's an impossible route, they will burn the house down but they WILL get in because obsessively defeating the boundary you set becomes their objective, not the reason they wanted to come in.” (source)

Narcissism resembles hubris, as discussed in my last blog. Some see them as different positions on a personality scale. And it is so that Owen and Davidson listed narcissism among the symptoms of the hubris syndrome (see my last blog). Nevertheless, they are not the same. While hubris is a trait a person has acquired by his experiences, narcissism (NPD) is a disorder, so a kind of illness. Hubris is temporary, while narcissism is a personality characteristic and therefore difficult to change, if it is. It makes that the hubris syndrome appears in later life, while narcissism appears in late childhood or adolescence and it continues into adulthood. The hubris syndrome is an outcome of the environment acquired by persons in positions of power, and if it can be seen as an illness, it is “an illness of position as much as of the person.” (Owen) This doesn’t mean, of course, that hubristic persons cannot have a narcissistic disorder as well.
Can we do without persons with narcissistic traits? A study by Zoltán Fazekas and Peter K. Hatemi shows that “those scoring higher in narcissism … participate more in politics, including contacting politicians, signing petitions, joining demonstrations, donating money, and voting in midterm elections.” “The general picture is that individuals who believe in themselves, and believe that they are better than others, engage in the political process more,” so the researchers. “At the same time, those individuals who are more self-sufficient are also less likely to take part in the political process. This means that policies and electoral outcomes could increasingly be guided by those who both want more, but give less.” In an interview, Peter Hatemi says: “It is hard not to notice how much more of ‘me’ is part of our world – projecting one’s status at the cost of others, whether using social media such as Facebook or Instagram or Twitter. … It was hard for my colleague Zoltan Fazekas and I [sic] to ignore the rampant narcissism in our elected leaders, and the outcomes of their decisions. And it seemed likely that higher public narcissism has some role in the growing instability of our democracy. … A healthy democracy depends on a representative public that participates, but perhaps those who are participating are part of the problem? Some of the public has become more mobilized, but this mobilization is not evenly distributed. Arguably, people who participate more are more hardline and ideologically driven than any time in history, and it looks like narcissism has some role as well.” In a Me Era we can expect me-politicians, and that’s what we are seeing now.
I wanted to write about the difference between hubristic and narcissistic behaviour, but in the present political practice it makes little difference whether we are victims of the former or the latter.

Random quote
Famous quote but today more than ever true:
‘Tis to much purpose to go upon stilts, for, when upon stilts, we must yet walk with our legs; and when seated upon the most elevated throne in the world, we are but seated upon our breech.

Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592)

The hubris syndrome

The Greek goddess Nemesis in the interpretation of Albrecht Dürer

Two weeks ago, I analysed hubris as a kind of once-occurring, at least not systematically arrogant and intemperate behaviour. However, it can also happen that someone shows regularly or even systematically this undesirable behaviour. Then hubris has become a personality trait and the person concerned suffers from the hubris syndrome.
The hubris syndrome is mainly found in persons who hold positions of power. Just this makes it dangerous, not only for the persons in the immediate environment of the hubristic person. If a person is a top politician or a CEO, hubristic behaviour can have far-reaching consequences for sectors of society, if not for society as a whole and the whole world, as Lord David Owen has shown in his book The Hubris Syndrome. As Owen says there (p. xiii): “The havoc which hubristic heads of government can wreak is usually suffered by the people in whose name they govern.” And although in the beginning hubristic persons may win glory and acclamation because of their successes, in the end they meet their nemesis, like in a Greek tragedy.
What does the hubris syndrome involve? Lord Owen and Jonathan Davidson, who together coined the term hubris syndrome, present in their article “Hubris syndrome…” a list of 14 symptoms of the syndrome (see also here):

1. A narcissistic propensity to see their world primarily as an arena in which to exercise power and seek glory.
2. A predisposition to take actions which seem likely to cast the individual in a good light – i.e. in order to enhance image.
3. A disproportionate concern with image and presentation.
4. A messianic manner of talking about current activities and a tendency to exaltation.
5. An identification with the nation, or organization to the extent that the individual regards his/her outlook and interests as identical.
6. A tendency to speak in the third person or use the royal “we”.
7. Excessive confidence in the individual’s own judgement and contempt for the advice or criticism of others.
8. Exaggerated self-belief, bordering on a sense of omnipotence, in what they personally can achieve.
9. A belief that rather than being accountable to the mundane court of colleagues or public opinion, the court to which they answer is: History or God.
10. An unshakable belief that in that court they will be vindicated.
11. Loss of contact with reality; often associated with progressive isolation.
12. Restlessness, recklessness and impulsiveness.
13. A tendency to allow their “broad vision”, about the moral rectitude of a proposed course, to obviate the need to consider practicality, cost or outcomes.
14. Hubristic incompetence, where things go wrong because too much self-confidence has led the leader not to worry about the nuts and bolts of policy.

It is not so that a person suffering from the hubris syndrome should have all these symptoms. Three or four are enough, so Owen , to contemplate such a diagnosis. Moreover, the hubris syndrome is better seen as an acquired personality trait rather than as an acquired personality disorder. (see here) In addition, as Owen says in his book (p. 3) and articles: “Most syndromes of personality tend to manifest themselves in people by the age of eighteen and stay with them for the rest of their lives. Hubristic syndrome is different in that it should not be seen as a personality syndrome but as something which manifests itself in leaders only when in power – and usually only after they have been wielding it for some time – and which then may well abate once power is lost. In that sense it is an illness of position as much as of the person.” Usually, the syndrome comes gradually and gradually it fades away after the person has lost his position, for it often depends on the circumstances a person is in; on external factors. Owen mentions especially three key factors: Holding substantial power, minimal constraint on the leader exercising such personal authority, and the length of time they stay in power.

The hubris syndrome is not an innocent trait. It has many negative effects. A leader who thinks to be the greatest can cause many problems. To mention a few (see here):
- Lack of trust: The inability to see their own mistakes, shortcomings and incompetence undermines the confidence of those who should assist and support the leader.
- Weak relationships: People avoid solid bonds with arrogant and self-indulgent persons and those whom they don’t trust.
- Irrational decision-making: Leaders who don’t accept criticism make decisions without valuable insights and input from other people and are often perceived as impulsive and reckless.
- Leaders who don’t admit mistakes and don’t accept criticism tend to have ineffective teams that must support them.

Once a leader has become hubristic, it is difficult to change their behaviour, for hubristic leaders tend to surround themselves with assistants who agree with them already in advance and who confirm their decisions and behaviour and do not criticize them. However, when you get a leadership position there are a few things you can do to prevent that you become hubristic (ibid.):
- Ask for feedback regularly.
- Try to understand what kind of person you are.
- Get your hands dirty, so do some grunt work yourself.

But alas, it’s a feature of hubristic personalities that they are not open to such preventive and corrective measures. In a Greek drama, hubris always leads to the fall of the hubristic person. Hubris is punished by Nemesis. In the real world, often it is not different. But before that happens, a lot of damage has already been done.

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P.S. Should I mention names? Most authoritarian political leaders in the present world are hubristic persons. Trump and Putin in the first place. However, once you know the characteristics, you will no doubt also recognize hubristic persons in your immediate environment.

Random quote
Arrogance of power [is] a psychological need that nations seem to have in order to prove that they are bigger, better, or stronger than other nations.

J. William Fulbright (1905-1995), former chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.

Hubris

The Fall of Icarus (Lantern console, Utrecht, NL)

In my last blog, I described how Idomeneo, King of Crete, opposed the will of a god and the forces of the cosmic order in order to save his son’s life. I explained that Idomeneo’s behaviour exemplifies the behaviour of the present world leaders, especially the older ones, who, like Idomeneo, ignore the obligations imposed on them by the human and cosmic order. After having written this blog, I realized that the ancient Greeks had a word for such behaviour: Hubris (also hybris; Greek: ὕβρις). It was one of the biggest crimes that a Greek citizen could commit. In Athens, you could be severely punished for it. But what actually is hubris?
At school, I learned that it had to be translated as overconfidence or haughtiness. However, I was told that it was a complex, much wider concept. And indeed, it is. Not only has hubris a much wider meaning than just overconfidence or haughtiness, but it’s meaning changed also through the ages. “In ancient times”, so Britannica, it meant “the intentional use of violence to humiliate or degrade. The word’s connotation changed over time, and hubris came to be defined as overweening presumption that leads a person to disregard the divinely fixed limits on human action in an ordered cosmos.” (my italics)
Hubris was often seen as extremely arrogant behaviour towards other persons, for example by Aristotle in his Rhetorics 1378b. However, I think that disregarding the cosmic order is at least so important as the personal aspect, if not the most important aspect, of hubris. But the personal aspect doesn’t need to exclude the cosmic aspect. Actually, the former is a manifestation of the latter, and that’s why it was considered a crime. Indeed, “some poets—especially Hesiod (7th century BCE) and Aeschylus (5th century BCE)—used hubris to describe wrongful action against the divine order”, so Britannica.
However, as Sjoerd van Hoorn explains, hubris isn’t only a violation of the divine or cosmic order as such, it is also a psychic attitude. For Pindar and Theognis (Greek poets, 6th century BCE) hybrid was a psychic concept. “Hybris is … an excess of confidence or too great a happiness that does not suit a person … A human who possesses practical wisdom is one who keeps measure, while immoderation can end in crime on the one hand, but on the other hand it can amount to what we still refer to in Dutch as ‘request the gods’ [= tempting fate], act in such a way that you ask for problems, as it were”, so van Hoorn (my italics)

Above I have explained that hubris is a complex, wide concept that, through the ages, had different meanings for the ancient Greeks, or at least different connotations. Nevertheless, I think that we can say that the concept of hubris has the following characteristics:
- Arrogant behaviour and contempt for the other, accompanied by humiliation, insolence, and the like.
- Violation of the human, divine and cosmic order; if not disrespect for this order. Instead of divine and cosmic order, most of us today would say the natural order. The human order includes the legal order.
- Immoderation, intemperateness if not excessiveness.
Hubris is an old Greek word. If you would ask me for a modern word or expression that covers its meaning best, I think that disrespect is a good choice; or even better, disrespect based on a sense of superiority. To my mind just this idea excellently sums up the behaviour of the leaders of the major world powers and of the people around them. It’s not difficult to fill in names. They all try to strengthen their positions and to glorify themselves at the cost of others by disrespecting and taunting these others and by discrediting their integrity. In doing so they go against the cosmic order that forces us to take care of problems like climate change, war, poverty, depleting human resources, etc. In Athens hubris was a severe crime. In Greek mythology and in Greek dramas hubris was always punished, as it was in Mozart’s opera Idomeneo, too. Why would it now be different? Hubris goes before a fall.