World as I Think

If the last post was about superiority complex, this is about the other end 'inferiority complex', in fact as we delve deeper, both of them are the manifestations of the ego's abnormality arising out of our self judgment। It takes a lot of courage to accept that we might posses it and even more to overcome, if it’s necessary. There are various metrics to create inferiority complex: physical abilities, mental & material (m&m) abilities, emotional abilities and social dis-advantages.

Inferiority complex due to physical abilities is not consciously selected by the individual but is mostly a negative feedback from the society and this genre of 'complex' mostly cannot be reverted or adversely changed as there are limitations to overrule nature or the gene. Michael Jackson is a classic example of being a victim of this syndrome; in spite of being a genius he muffled himself with color. Stephen Hawking is a classic example of people who broke the clutches of the physical world to transpire into the world of intellectual glory. I am not going to advocate that beauty is inner and physical attributes can change. What is you see is what you see; abnormal things tend to signal aberrations in the mind unless we get use to it or respect things as they are. I still have an awkward feeling when i see reptiles. The mind has a way of relating abnormal features with morality as if gundas have crippled legs and scared faces (just stealing it from Anbe Sivam).This is a negative feedback from the society which seeds the semblances of IC.

About m&m abilities, now to the root cause, karmic humans are at least driven by a motive (desire); in this journey we acquire various identities through the facets of knowledge, wisdom and skill. The material and mental abilities are acquired through the blend of the above mentioned facets and of course luck (random causes).I would classify family wealth as physically acquired ability rather than oneself. Now as we move along, we set benchmarks (both voluntary and forced by the environment) to evaluate and more often judge our self in this game of progress towards what we want to be.

Its a tricky situation when we have to judge ourselves, in this ugly game we often end up judging our benchmarks when in fact we need to be observe it objectively. We can see the symptoms everywhere, some people identify themselves with every identify of the association (friends, schools, parents.. clubs.. education) they have, its an extreme case where the individual is trying to overcome the lack of their self identity based on benchmarks which they have set to themselves. "Yeahh even my xxxxx is ........ (MBA/ dancer/certified/millionaire...)".We try to overcome our inferiority complex by coupling ourselves with some superior ego with that attribute. This eventually leads to dilution of the self identity and becomes a vicious game to self destruct our personality. If this was total unguarded against the assault of one's personality, there is a case of outright cynical attitude about people who have the superior attribute. This kind of inferiority complex is worst of all, it creates depression and sense of negative vibes about the attribute which aboutwe have an inferior feeling .If somebody is a versatile dancer or thinker and we are not and feel inferior about it, we end being completely cynical about the attribute citing the drawbacks of possessing that attribute. This often flares up jealousy, outright rejection and ‘attribute' blasphemy which is unwarranted.

The inability to emote appropriately is another source of inferiority complex. Some cannot laugh, cry, romance, exhibit anger or express love and care. There is often a desire to express/receive those emotions. In cases of deprivation or malfunction (in certain cases), an IC develops, an aversion to the expression of such feelings. The signs of emotional IC are confirmed when emotional blackmail is used as a tool to get things done.

The IC complex due to social dis-advantages (economic class/ caste/ creed/ religion/ gender/ ideology...) is easiest to overcome on a individual basis but more difficult to overcome as a systemic mindset.

Inferiority Complex
A persistent sense of inadequacy or a tendency to self-diminishment, sometimes resulting in excessive aggressiveness through overcompensation.

“Inferiority Complex: a conviction by a jury of your fears.”

Salieri : I will speak for you, Father. I speak for all mediocrities in the world. I am their champion. I am their patron saint.
Salieri : Mediocrities everywhere... I absolve you... I absolve you... I absolve you... I absolve you... I absolve you all

This is the dialogue which Antonio Sallie leaves in the air at the end of the movie Amadeus , creating a sense of guilt in the mind of every mediocrite (almost all of us, at one point or another) who have incessantly crawled this world. It is a fictional play in the "technical" sense but very real, in its real sense. Initially, Sallie is jittered by the contention that there is somebody superior (Mozart here) to him with far fluent abilities. As he gets to indulge himself in the artistic expressions of Mozart, his brain accedes to the ingenuity of Mozart but his ego propels jealousy. He ultimately plots the demise of the genius and succeeds in it as well.

The crux of the story, a superior "ego" soaked in its own glare insanely defends the flare of another thought which questions the ignorance or assumptions of the bloated superior ego. I have been in this bloated plane many times and equally received the farce look as well. As I reckon and unbundled them, in most of the cases, there is either the over estimation of our convictions or the gross underestimation of the opponent. In the former case, once we are used to the expert image or evolved status, we eventually get drowned in the gravity of our own arrogance unwilling to admit that we have limited knowledge or experience as well. There is a stern defense to accept the truth as there is an inherent fear that we might loose our pseudo elite status. I was recently caught with an argument with a friend of me, in fact I look to him for any clarification on any subject matter, but it happened that I had to confront him in a topic which he was unaware। As I was quite comfortable with the topic I expressed my view but it was out rightly negated. The reason as I could see ,was the bloated superior ego was unwilling to accept ignorance as it could not give away the pride factor.

There is another instance which I remember .If you have watched this song "Pookuri Pongal" from the movie Pokuri. There is a tiny part where both Prabhu Deva and Vijay dance together. I was really surprised by the kind of nervy consciousness which Vijay was going through. Vijay is one of the most profound dancers in the Tamil film industry but Prabhu Deva is the pioneer of the concurrent form of dancing and one of the most elegant, compared to the peers. I would rate Vijay in the same ivory league when it comes to dancing.As i watched the song,I felt he was feeling too conscious about people judging him with Prabhu Deva, He was kinda competing hard to maintain the “supremo” status and end of the day could not justify the freaky section even though he possessed the natural flair for dancing.

At times, when I think of it and feel the gravity of my ego blinding me, I remember this dialogue in the movie Bharth quoted Rajini

None should think that he is the “one”, there would be some one far superior born