Pride and Ignorance Understanding Internal Conflict in Stories

Pride; Virtue or Vice? Let’s first define virtue and vice;

A virtue is a positive trait or quality deemed to be morally good and thus is valued as a foundation of principle and good moral being. Personal virtues are characteristics valued as promoting collective and individual greatness. The opposite of virtue is vice.good valuedprinciplevaluedvice

Vice is a practice or a behavior or habit considered immoral, depraved, or degrading in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character trait, a defect, an infirmity, or merely a bad habit. Synonyms for vice include fault, depravity, sin, iniquity, wickedness, and corruption.habitimmoral

Pride is an inwardly directed emotion that carries two common meanings. With a negative connotation, pride refers to an inflated sense of one's personal status or accomplishments, often used synonymously with hubris.emotion connotationsynonymouslyhubris With a positive connotation, pride refers to a satisfied sense of attachment toward one's own or another's choices and actions, or toward a whole group of people, and is a product of praise, independent self-reflection, or a fulfilled feeling of belonging.group of people

Pride is sometimes viewed as excessive or as a vice, sometimes as proper or as a virtue. While some philosophers such as Aristotle (and George Bernard Shaw) consider pride a profound virtue, some world religions consider it a sin.AristotleGeorge Bernard Shawvirtuereligionssin

When viewed as a virtue, pride in one's appearance and abilities is known as virtuous pride, greatness of soul or magnanimity, but when viewed as a vice it is often termed vanity or vainglory.magnanimityvanity Pride can also manifest itself as a high opinion of one's nation (national pride) and ethnicity (ethnic pride).nationethnicity

Bad Pride, or Pride that separates: (Pride that blinds) Envy, jealousy, resentment, greed, selfishness, haughtiness, tyranny, supremacy

Excessive pride, along with low self- esteem, is an important part in describing the human condition. Humanistic psychology says that pride does not adequately account for anyone's experience, and the idea that if pride emerges, it is always a false front designed to protect an undervalued self, or a "deadlock between the overvalued and undervalued self.” Humanistic psychology

Actions that stem from feelings of pride are usually rooted in fear; fear of losing status or possession.

Several studies have shown that groups that boast, gloat or perceive themselves to be superior to others tend to have low social status or be vulnerable to threats from other groups. Claiming that "hubristic, pompous displays of group pride might actually be a sign of group insecurity as opposed to a sign of strength," and those that express pride by humbly focusing on members' efforts and hard work tend to have high social standing.

In contrast, those groups that expressed pride by humbly focusing on members' efforts and hard work tended to have high social standing in both the public and personal eyes. Think of Martin Luther King Jr., Oprah, or Cesar Chaves.

Vanity can refer to an excessive or irrational belief in one's own abilities or attractiveness in the eyes of others and may in so far be compared to pride. The term Vanity originates from the Latin word vanitas meaning emptiness, untruthfulness, futility, foolishnes s and empty pride. vanitas

Here empty pride means a fake pride, in the sense of vainglory, unjustified by one's own achievements and actions, but sought by pretense and appeals to superficial characteristics. Vanity originally referred not to obsession with one's appearance, but to the ultimate fruitlessness of man's efforts in this world.

Think of the expression, “He tried his best, but his efforts were all in vain.”

Hubris: From ancient Greek, means extreme pride or arrogance. Hubris often indicates a loss of contact with reality and an overestimation of one's own competence or capabilities, especially when the person exhibiting it is in a position of power. Basically, they have gone from great power to scared jerk.ancient Greekpridereality

In its modern use, hubris denotes overconfident pride and arrogance; it is often associated with a lack of humility, though not always with the lack of knowledge.humility An accusation of hubris often implies that suffering or punishment will follow, similar to the occasional pairing of hubris and nemesis in Greek society. The proverb "pride goes before a fall" is thought to summate the modern use of hubris.

It is also referred to as "pride that blinds", as it often causes one accused of hubris to act in foolish ways that belie common sense. In other words, the modern definition may be thought of as, "that pride that comes just before the fall". More recently, in his two- volume biography of Adolf Hitler, historian Ian Kershaw uses both 'hubris' and 'nemesis' as titles. The first volume, 'Hubris', describes Hitler's early life and rise to power. The second, 'Nemesis' gives details of Hitler's role in the Second World War, and concludes with his fall and suicide in 1945.Ian Kershaw

Nemesis: In Greek mythology, Nemesis was the spirit of divine retribution against those who succumb to hubris (arrogance before the gods). The Greeks personified vengeful fate as a remorseless goddess: the goddess of revenge. The name Nemesis is related to the Greek word [némein], meaning "to give what is due".Greek mythologyretributionhubrisfateGreek

But is justice always served?

Good Pride, or Pride that validates: (pride that binds) Confidence, competence, ambition, ability, strength

In psychological terms, good pride is "a pleasant, sometimes exhilarating, emotion that results from a positive self-evaluation". It was added to the University of California’s “Set of Emotion Expressions” in 2009, as one the four "self-conscious" emotions known to have physically recognizable expressions (along with embarrassment, joy, and shame)embarrassmentshame

Pride as a motivator: Pride involves exhilarated pleasure and a feeling of accomplishment. It is related to "more positive behaviors and outcomes in the area where the individual is proud". Pride is generally associated with positive social behaviors such as helping others and outward promotion. Along with hope, it is also often described as an emotion that helps us become ready for some performance or test.

Think of warriors who pump themselves up for a battle! Their leader will try to instill confidence and justification to get them committed to the greater good. It may also help enhance the quality and flexibility of the effort expended. Pride can have the positive benefits of enhancing creativity, productivity, and altruism. For instance, it has been found that in terms of school achievement, pride is associated with a higher GPA in low neighborhood socioeconomic environments, whereas in more advantaged neighborhoods, high pride was associated with a lower GPA.

Do “Good Pride” and “Bad Pride” have anything in common, or are they unrelated? Are you ready for the awesome paradox?!

As an audience/reader, pride is what makes us care for the protagonist and makes us root for them! We want them to rise up to the challenge.

This is where the term “Excessive Pride” comes into play. Once our protagonist attains greatness, they just don’t know when to quit.

But wait! If they don’t know when to quit, doesn’t that make the tragedy one of ignorance instead of pride?

Yes and No This type of trouble makes up the majority of tragic stories; the mix of both ignorance and pride.

The word Nemesis originally meant the distributor of fortune, neither good nor bad, simply in due proportion to each according to what was deserved. Then, nemesis came to suggest the resentment caused by any disturbance of this right proportion, the sense of justice which could not allow it to pass unpunished. Many connect the name with "to feel a just resentment".

In the Greek tragedies, Nemesis appears chiefly as the avenger of crime and the punisher of hubris, and was sometimes called "Adrasteia", probably meaning "one from whom there is no escape".Greek tragedieshubris

Wait a doggone minute, Mr. Rice. What if the protagonist can’t actually “WIN” in the conflict? Do we still root for them and feel that they have been victorious if they tried their best?

These types of stories are not regular tragedies. They are the fine line between Tragedy and Comedy. These movies: Braveheart, Gladiator, Sparticus, Valkarie, the Jack Bull, and others, are designed to motivate the audience/reader to action and appreciation. So we are being pumped up and we feel… you guessed it, Proud of those who stood their ground and did the right thing. Thus, it is the protagonists’ humility that redeems them in our eyes.

Ignorance Perhaps the most tragic stories of all are so heartbreaking because the protagonist(s) fall because of ignorance.

Remember the Twilight Zone episode we watched. He wasn’t a proud man at all. The tragedy was purely due to ignorance.

Ignorance is a state of being uninformed (lack of knowledge). The word ignorant is an adjective describing a person in the state of being unaware but is often used as an insult to describe individuals who deliberately ignore or disregard important information or facts. This is actually someone who is willfully ignorant.knowledgeunaware This is ironic, as people who misuse the term are showing their own ignorance.

Individuals with superficial knowledge of a topic or subject may be worse off than people who know absolutely nothing. As Charles Darwin observed, "ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge."Charles Darwin

Ignorance can stifle learning, in that a person who falsely believes he or she is knowledgeable will not seek out clarification of his or her beliefs, but rather rely on his or her ignorant position. They may also reject valid but contrary information, neither realizing its importance nor understanding it.

So, Captain Rice, what the crap does this have to do with our short stories!? Watch your mouth!

Internal conflict when the story is a comedy: If the protagonist overcomes their ignorance then they become enlightened in our eyes. If the protagonist overcomes their pride (fear, anger, doubt, jealousy, resentment, etc), then they gain integrity in our eyes.

If your story is a Comedy, Ask yourself, If the problem is ignorance, at what cost will your protagonist gain knowledge and/or ability? If the problem is pride, at what cost will your protagonist learn from their proud actions?

Internal conflict when the story is a Tragedy: If the protagonist overcomes their ignorance but not their pride then they are morally fallen in our eyes. I call these bitter tragedies. If the protagonist overcomes their pride in time, but not their ignorance, then they become a martyr in our eyes. I call these inspirational tragedies.

If your story is a Tragedy, Where will your protagonist fail? Lack of knowledge (ignorance) Lack of ability (inspirational tragedy) Lack of desire, or misplaced values (pride)

That’s All Folks! Thank you for participating in our Internal Conflict training. We are about to land so make sure you flotation device is in the upright position in case we need to swim to sea.