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#190150 03/23/10 09:15 PM
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Is there a word for the condition somebody has when he thinks, "this is the way I think, therefore everyone thinks this way," or, "this is the way I do things so if other people don't do it this way, they're idiots." Or, "since it's not tough for me to eat small amounts of food, then it's not tough for anyone to eat small amounts of food?" It has something to do with Narcissism, but it's more like assuming everyone is like yourself and if they're not there is something wrong with them.

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Egotism might be close to what you're looking for. I tend to think of it as a symptom of what I call the Golden Rule Fallacy. Doing unto others as you would have them do unto you assumes that everyone wants the same things.

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or maybe egoism.

egotism - an exaggerated sense of self-importance
egoism - a preoccupation with self-interest

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Human?

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tunnel vieuw ?

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Or either egocentrism.

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Maybe egoism, egocentrism, egotism does not have the same connotation as in D.?, where it is mostly associated with ungenerousness, greed, refusal to share.(egotism comes closest though).
One can be generous, sharing and caring and still be little open to other people's ideas, wishes and such.
We use the word 'tunnel view' for an extreme lack of understanding for ideas that differ from one's own. I could not find the word in the online English dictionaries, so it is a faux English word. But we use it like " He /she suffers from tunnel view."

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Tunnel vision is the way we usually say it. It can be literal, a defect of the eye, or metaphorical.

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Thank you, I'll try to remember. I would never say 'A Room with
a Vision'. I understand now where I am wrong.

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Originally Posted By: Insanediego
Is there a word for the condition somebody has when he thinks, "this is the way I think, therefore everyone thinks this way," or, "this is the way I do things so if other people don't do it this way, they're idiots." Or, "since it's not tough for me to eat small amounts of food, then it's not tough for anyone to eat small amounts of food?" It has something to do with Narcissism, but it's more like assuming everyone is like yourself and if they're not there is something wrong with them.


It sounds like "self-importace" to me. noun: an inflated feeling of pride in your superiority to others

It could also be "solipsism" noun: the philosophical theory that the self is all that you know to exist

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which brings us right back to 'egotism', an exaggerated sense of self-importance.

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So, how much of this ego-whatever is deliberate and intentional? There must be people who simply don't realize that all people don't think alike. I know many teenagers suffer from this, and some even grow out of it. But I'm not convinced that it is always an adopted mindset, although it certainly can be.

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Not all think alike, you are so correct. And there are others
who feel everyone must think the way they do. That is called
arrogance, among other things.


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Maybe "opinionated" cleaves closer to the original question. There's probably a medical term for the trait, too, when it is expressed pathologically.

As for teenagers, I think they are more attuned to and less tolerant of differences in opinion than adults. I think this sensitivity to opinion is one of the major forces that drives them (usually non-traumatically) from clique to clique. Who likes a new band? "They're my new friends, and everyone else is stupid." That is, until the next great thing comes along next week. Hypersensitivity to opinion is the opposite of not acknowledging the opinions of others.

Acknowledging the value of the opinions of others is a different story, and here I agree that some people are either raised to do so, teach themselves to do so, or are genetically predisposed to do so.


"I don't know which is worse: ignorance or apathy. And, frankly, I don't care." - Anonymous
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These types are very common. They appear in theatre all the time. Some are tragic and some comedic.
" Ninety-nine percent of the people in the world are fools and the rest of us are in great danger of contagion... I was once young, which was foolish of me..." Horace Vandegelder in "The Matchmaker" by Thornton Wilder

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Psst--egocentric. (I think this is right, and everybody else should, too.)

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And I repeat: arrogant.


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it looks as though insanediego is one of those one and done posters, and we'll never know the verdict..
-joe (9585 and never done) friday

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And I repeat: arrogant. grin You got it, dude!

One-and-done: I like it!

I still haven't figured out why people come on here and ask a question then never post again. Maybe they forget, or maybe just lurk at the responses...?
I am still concerned about that one lady who thought actor James Cromwell was insulting people with disabilities. I PM'ed her using the info. showing he's a vegetarian and that I thought that was likely the explanation for his comment, but I've never heard back, nor has she posted. She was quite upset.

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she probably expected to get a full-blown apology from Anu, and not having gotten it is staying away out of spite.

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I'd like to return to the original question:

Originally Posted By: Insanediego
Is there a word for the condition somebody has when he thinks, "this is the way I think, therefore everyone thinks this way," ... it's more like assuming everyone is like yourself and if they're not there is something wrong with them.

Insanediego is describing one aspect of residual tribalism as manifested in the modern individual. There was probably evolutionary value in the kind of thinking he describes, maybe in unifying tribes and clans, most of whom perceived themselves as "people" and everyone else as "other" to a greater or lesser degree. They thought the same as one another and had a strong, unifying way of looking at their world. If there is an anthropologist peeking in, maybe he can provide the technical term for this kind of thinking. It's universal, and there has been a snowballing move in the last few centuries to erase it from our genes, or at least to modify its expression. With the advent of increasingly efficient transportation over long distances, tribalism evolved into nationalism for good or for ill; and the individual, when dealing with the newly-cosmopolitan world, had to be acculturated away from many aspects of tribal thinking. Racism is a form of what Insanediego describes. We all feel it - we see other races as... well, other - but we are trained from birth in modern society to avoid acting on these thoughts, just as we are trained away from acting out rape, assault, murder, and other natural thoughts. So it isn't that there's something wrong with people with whom we disagree; we simply recognize them as "other."

Then, maybe because of the casual use of "idiots," Insanediego adds a twist:
Originally Posted By: Insanediego
"...this is the way I do things so if other people don't do it this way, they're idiots."

Sometimes we recognize "other" not as idiots, but as role models. For example, some blood from Scotland and England runs in my veins, but I'm glad my U.S. culture recognized long ago that there are better cooks in the world.

And one last:
Originally Posted By: Insanediego
It has something to do with Narcissism

I think narcissism is far off the mark. Narcissism is more about being impressed with ones own physical beauty, and it doesn't suggest that others are not beautiful.

Last edited by beck123; 04/10/10 12:47 PM.

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Narcissism need not be just physical beauty. The DSMIV has it as
a form of whatever that illustrious tome considers illnesses.


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It can be an illness (like blog addiction) and still just concern itself with physical beauty. Narcissus fell in love with himself when he saw his reflection in a pool, no? That would qualify as an illness.


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As would thinking too much of oneself, acc/ to DSM IV.
An exalted sense of one's self worth.


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It seems alot of this may have to do with personality style of the supposed one in charge. I once had an employer who believed there were three ways of doing things, the right way, the wrong way, and the fast way. To him the first and the third were the same because you wouldn't be spending time redoing whatever it was. Some bosses are cool and empowering and others are not.

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Originally Posted By: kah454
It seems alot of this may have to do with personality style of the supposed one in charge. I once had an employer who believed there were three ways of doing things, the right way, the wrong way, and the fast way. To him the first and the third were the same because you wouldn't be spending time redoing whatever it was. Some bosses are cool and empowering and others are not.


You can have it fast, cheap, good. Pick any two.

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