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The Repugnance of Weakness
We have an instinct to dislike any act that completely disregards personal pride.
Pleading and praising make for odd bedfellows. There are few acts which can so easily circumvent all defenses to make one cringe. Each of us can be cornered by gratuitous compliments or begging, for with each of these it pains us to refuse or accept. To refuse the beggar we are callous; to oblige the beggar we are forced. To refuse a compliment we are ungrateful; to accept a compliment we are haughty. And so it is that each of us is cornered by these acts, which have for their only commonality a lowering on the part of the actor.
If come by with too much ease, there is an offensiveness in being raised to a position of power, and even more so in having another relegate themselves to a position of relative subordination before us. There is a worship of power underlying all of human behavior. We are offended both by those who are more powerful than us and by those who are weaker. So devout our we in our pedestaling of power that we won’t allow for unearned praise. It gives us an uncomfortable sort of feeling to be vigorously praised, yet none among us would be without some inkling of disappointment should we put forward a prodigious effort and not be recognized for it. We certainly do wish to be praised, but we won’t accept any gratuitous or…
