Admiration or bitterness?

[similar.squirrel]

Simple question. How do you view those who are better than you? Do you admire them for their achievements and good fortune, or do you feel a certain animosity towards them?

Personally, I tend to feel sort of spiteful towards people who are better than me despite being in my demographic. I don't actively dislike them, but if I were to meet somebody who's my age and training to be a doctor, I would feel ill at ease in their presence.
On the other hand, I feel nothing but admiration for people of the same sort if they're appreciably older than myself.

 

[Lilani]

It depends on how they carry themselves. If they're not boastful about it, then I admire how well off they are and how "normal" they've been able to remain at the same time. But if they like to show it off and make points of telling about their Ritzy affairs around people they know cannot relate, I start to feel they don't really deserve all the nice things they have if they feel the need to validate themselves to everyone they meet by rubbing it in their faces.

 

[Zac Smith]

Pretty much as Lilani, the more someone is up themselves the more likely a I am to resent them. I think if you generally feel spiteful towards people better then you isn't a matter of spite, but a simple matter of jealously, admittedly it's unintentional but jealousy in my eyes none the less

 

[TheIronRuler]

Simple question. How do you view those who are better than you? Do you admire them for their achievements and good fortune, or do you feel a certain animosity towards them?

Personally, I tend to feel sort of spiteful towards people who are better than me despite being in my demographic. I don't actively dislike them, but if I were to meet somebody who's my age and training to be a doctor, I would feel ill at ease in their presence.
On the other hand, I fell nothing but admiration for people of the same sort if they're appreciably older than myself.

It's all about the age.
Age doesn't necessarily bring wisdom with it.
The greatest modern mathematician that even lived became a self taught legend from India, but he died in his 30s. Do you envy him for his achievements? What if that great mathematician would have lived for fifty more years? Would you have envied him at age 80?

 

[Latinidiot]

I actually am a very jealous person. But only if it's in things I pride myself on. If someone says he singlehandedly programmed Windows 9: We Promise It's Good, I'll buy him a beer.
If he says he can play petruci flawlessly, enter mr Hyde.

 

[MrShadowzs]

If some is better than me at something i never think i could do, i fell admiration. However if they are better than me at something i think i am good at then i feel a little disappointed. Yet thats what drives us to be better at what we do, beat the people who are better than us.

 

[Gigano]

I will always admire the particular trait in anyone who is substantially better than me (and the average person) at something, although as that's not enough to determine whether the person is "better" than me overall it won't make me admire them.

Never did feel animosity towards those more gifted, although one can of course be annoyed if they are full of themselves (though not nearly as much as if they were boastful and didn't actually have any qualities to boast about).

 

[Amyamy]

Like others had said here, I also feel that it depends on how the person acts and carries himself or herself. It´s not to say they have to try to hide their good fortunes etc. but I just think it´s got all to do with respect.

 

[Scabadus]

Can't I feel both at once? A gruding admiration where I can admire their dedication and talent but envy what it brings them?

 

[Not-here-anymore]

People who are better than me? No such person exists.

I jest. I guess I feel somewhat jealous of their greater ability in such-and-such a field, but have a respect of sorts for them nonetheless.
But everyone's better than me at something; likewise everyone's worse than me at something. It's only when it's an interest/skill-set of mine that someone's better at that I even notice.

 

[Smooth Operator]

Well a bit of both, the competitive nature is always there, can't shut that down, but it mainly depends on how that "better" status was achieved and even more how they carry it.

If you are some lowlife two faced dog who cheats his way into the fortune of others (lawyers, managers, accountants,...) then you won't get mush respect for me.

But create something genuinely good and I will give you mad props.

 

[JoJo]

It depends on what they are good at. If it's academic or knowledge or about something I'm interested in then I don't mind as it's rare for me to meet people who are better than me at those so it's interesting for conversation. If it's something like sport or an online game i.e. something I'm not interested in then I simply don't care.

 

[Scarim Coral]

I pretty much admire my friend?s skills and ability since they are not the arrogant types. For random strangers with a skill I tend to stop myself from being jealous so I think that arrogant stranger is a jerk but I won't be jealous.
I do however sometimes I may feel envious of others good fortune (which is slightly different to jealous).

 

[Maya Posch]

I do strive to become better and will use others as examples. I'm not really jealous, though. I do feel a kind of bitter envy to those who are able to live a normal life of which I am apparently incapable thanks to my medical condition. Yet if I was to have a life like them, I would take things more as a friendly challenge between peers than some kind of bitter rivalry.

I am a poor loser, hence I'll never give up getting as good as or better than others

 

[DeadlyYellow]

It's all about the age.
Age doesn't necessarily bring wisdom with it.
The greatest modern mathematician that even lived became a self taught legend from India, but he died in his 30s. Do you envy him for his achievements? What if that great mathematician would have lived for fifty more years? Would you have envied him at age 80?

I don't think I'd envy anyone I learned about through Cracked.

 

[similar.squirrel]

It's all about the age.
Age doesn't necessarily bring wisdom with it.
The greatest modern mathematician that even lived became a self taught legend from India, but he died in his 30s. Do you envy him for his achievements? What if that great mathematician would have lived for fifty more years? Would you have envied him at age 80?

I don't think I'd envy anyone I learned about through Cracked.

That guy was in an entirely different league to the average person, anyway. I mean, I don't begrudge Richard Dawkins, Stephen Hawking, Gerald Durrell [although he is dead] for their achievements, because they represent the apex of human endeavour and it would be like railing at deities.

 

[CodeOrange]

It depends. I, as a person of great lethargy tend to squander my natural talents into less constructive tasks, such as finding new ways to procrastinate or to bluff my way out of a detention for not doing set homework. So although it tends to gives a bittersweet feel to when one surpasses me in an area of which I am also currently engaged in, I really don't care. My goals are different to theirs, and I respect him/her for that, hoping that the gesture is mutual.

That doesn't mean that the slightest zest of smugness will convert my humble appreciation to bitter scorn. Ironically, I relish the opportunity to exemplify my superiority or management when another shows the slightest signs of weakness.

 

[Wulfheri]

I don't understand what's better. I fear the things I don't understand. So I often want to destroy people that are better then me.
Well, it makes life so more interesting and competitive.

Not totally true, but I feel myself most of the time better then others and hate it when that isn't the case

 

[dyre]

Hmm, usually neither bitterness nor admiration. Just, uh, "well alright, he's better than me. I guess I should probably get better."

Occasionally I feel slighted when I think someone gets better results without deserving them, though of course that could be personal bias ("wtf, my GPA, SATs, and extracurriculars are all more impressive than that guy's...how'd he get into....it's because I'm Asian, isn't it >:|")

I feel admiration for people who do truly epic things, like write great books or make great leaps in science, tech, etc.

But for my contemporaries, I oddly neither admire nor feel any ill will towards them :O