Delusions of Grandeur

As a group of human beings, I have to admit, each and every one of us suffers from delusions of grandeur in varying degrees. Without a bit of arrogance and the belief that we matter in this existence, we would shrivel up and become wretched shells of living (and excreting) organisms with no excuse for using the resources we use up. I like to call this grand delusion optimism. A little bit of if we can dream it, we can do it mentality, so to speak.

If, we as human beings, did not think that we could succeed, that what we desired most could never be ours, such a self-defeating attitude might have left us clinging to limbs on a tree or worse yet, still part of a primordial soup that froze every few hundred centuries. This isn't meant to say that our self aggrandizement might be called hope, for we all know that hope can be dashed, and we're better than that.

Without optimism, we might have not been able to fly, soar or leave the surface of our planet for other worlds. Or span contintents and bridge rivers. How many now famous inventors would have carried on in face of severe criticism? We know that we can exceed what people think we are capable of and that is why we are going to succeed.

In an optimistic way, I fancy myself a decent writer and an intelligent engineer. If I didn't, I would not attempt to publish what I think or feel. I would not strive so hard to excel in my classes and complete the required coursework. If I were not optimistic (or deluded for that matter), I would not continue on with the, thus far, fruitless search for a mate after each rejection. Eventually to reproduce little versions of me. I would let the frustration hold me back, countering my motivation to continue on. I might have aborted my life and put an end to my ability to contribute to this world.

Conversely, we can take things too far. With optimism taken to an extreme, it can be arrogance. We could be arrogant and act as if those who were not like us don't belong. I mean my cultural heritage is easily guilty of such paralyzing arrogance. My ancestors even named the country they lived in, according to their language, "middle kingdom", because they believed that they were the center of the universe. And when it came time for my ancestors to defend themselves against European advances, they refused to bend, choosing to ignore the barbarians and subsequently were broken on the knee of European colonization.

We can use the optimism to destroy things that would have benefited generations to come. In our optimism that the world is full of vast resources, how many places have been denuded and defiled? Or killed off? People have often, in their extreme optimism, done many heinous acts against humanity. I won't name any of the dozens of rulers, dictators and people with severe delusions that what they desire is right. Bush. (Oops. How did that get in there? No more talk of politics from now on in this article. Honest.)

In my case, I can count the number of times my optimism in my ability to fix anything has broken things beyond repair. Some of my siblings won't let me forget these things. I can hear them muttering now. Glow-worm. Miniture B&W TV. Remote controlled car. Radio. Talking ALF. I mean, how else could I find out how things work? Alright, perhaps I shouldn't have taken the stuffing out of the ALF or found out how a glow-worm really lit up. All right, already! Sheesh, after all these years, you'd think they'd let it go already.

What I am getting at is that without the ability to puff up our fragile egos and think that we are better than we really are, we would not be able to succeed at things that have never been done before. Therefore, minor delusions of grandeur have to be suffered for our civilization to improve. I'm not exactly happy that the world turns on such adulation and narcissism, but the world exists as what we see, not what we wish. Besides, without this arrogan-- I mean optimisim, do you think you'd be able to read my opinions at your convience?