Excuse me, but you apparently think you're my equal
Apr/05/2009
Snootiness
is an interesting concept... some say it's a
confusion of values. Is there a difference between a
person who wears Jeaneology designer jeans and one
who wears Wranglers? Yes.... the difference is that
one of those people is more snooty than the other.
The psychologist Alfred Adler said, "To be human is to feel inferior." Of course, some people would read that and say to themselves, "I don't feel inferior... why would I feel inferior... I've got an 8000 square foot house and an $80,000 BMW." (We'll be polling our readers in a coming issue to find out how the price of one's car correlates with one's happiness.)
I wonder if there are ladybugs who walk past other bugs and think, "Just look at those flaws....she's got ugly spots on her wings." Oh, all right, maybe ladybugs can't think. But if elephants can mourn, and ravens can steal an ice fisherman's catch by pulling up the line with their beak and claws (saw it on Nature), who knows? Maybe other critters can think, and it's just our snootiness that makes us believe we're alone. Octopi are pretty smart. Maybe they act all globby when the submarine lights are on and then strut and swagger when they go back under the rock. What if eagles, hovering over cliffs, look down at other eagles' nests and think, "Lousy nest builder....look at all the twigs sticking out....it's barely even round." Eagles do seem to be just a little too confident so it's not much of a stretch to think they might be smug about their skills.
The whole art world is pretty much suffocated with snootiness. For an artist, the process of creating is what's really important, but you can be sure it makes them happy if somebody hands them a check once in a while. Problem is, for most artists it doesn't happen all that much.... too many people go to galleries just to be seen, with their checkbooks tucked safely away in a desk drawer. Fortunately they can still drop the gallery name into a conversation the next day along with a "We were there yesterday." What they might not realize is that "We just picked up a Cartier-Bresson" would impress people more, and it just might just help an artist buy a couple of packets of seasoning for his Top Ramen.
Finally we have Starbucks, which really needs to bring in a snootiness consultant. Calling a small latte "Tall" brings to mind the advertising guys who once decided that a little box of Tide, enough for about 5 washloads, should be labled with the word "Giant." The next size up, the "Intergalactic Conquest" size, was good for about 12 loads. I understand they'd hoped to put an even larger box on the shelves but nobody could come up with a name.
The psychologist Alfred Adler said, "To be human is to feel inferior." Of course, some people would read that and say to themselves, "I don't feel inferior... why would I feel inferior... I've got an 8000 square foot house and an $80,000 BMW." (We'll be polling our readers in a coming issue to find out how the price of one's car correlates with one's happiness.)
I wonder if there are ladybugs who walk past other bugs and think, "Just look at those flaws....she's got ugly spots on her wings." Oh, all right, maybe ladybugs can't think. But if elephants can mourn, and ravens can steal an ice fisherman's catch by pulling up the line with their beak and claws (saw it on Nature), who knows? Maybe other critters can think, and it's just our snootiness that makes us believe we're alone. Octopi are pretty smart. Maybe they act all globby when the submarine lights are on and then strut and swagger when they go back under the rock. What if eagles, hovering over cliffs, look down at other eagles' nests and think, "Lousy nest builder....look at all the twigs sticking out....it's barely even round." Eagles do seem to be just a little too confident so it's not much of a stretch to think they might be smug about their skills.
The whole art world is pretty much suffocated with snootiness. For an artist, the process of creating is what's really important, but you can be sure it makes them happy if somebody hands them a check once in a while. Problem is, for most artists it doesn't happen all that much.... too many people go to galleries just to be seen, with their checkbooks tucked safely away in a desk drawer. Fortunately they can still drop the gallery name into a conversation the next day along with a "We were there yesterday." What they might not realize is that "We just picked up a Cartier-Bresson" would impress people more, and it just might just help an artist buy a couple of packets of seasoning for his Top Ramen.
Finally we have Starbucks, which really needs to bring in a snootiness consultant. Calling a small latte "Tall" brings to mind the advertising guys who once decided that a little box of Tide, enough for about 5 washloads, should be labled with the word "Giant." The next size up, the "Intergalactic Conquest" size, was good for about 12 loads. I understand they'd hoped to put an even larger box on the shelves but nobody could come up with a name.
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