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curious about the nature of Self-Esteem

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Self-Esteem is described by Ayn rand as man´s "inviolate certainty that his mind is competent to think and his person is worthy of happiness, which means: is worthy of living". I understand the second part - that he has achieved the virtues required to be happy; he has earned it, but the first one is a little tricky for me. Man is a living organism with the ability to reason, but our intellectual capacities are different. Can one achieve self-esteem no matter how low one´s intellectual capacity is? And does one, in that case, attain self-esteem from the concepts one is able to grasp (even if there are important concepts one doesn´t understand)?

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Any person is competent to think, the extent of your intellectual capacity - if it is to mean that no two brain's are identical due to genetic differences - does not change that. Such a capacity doesn't determine what you can know, only what is the best way for you to learn. There is nothing out there a person is incapable of understanding, all they have to do is take the time to think about whatever is they are having trouble with. Knowledge is built up from lower level knowledge, there is no reason to think there's a point you'll reach where there is no more progression to be had. At worst, intellectual capacity only limits how fast you can learn, but I suspect even that can be overcome with practice as well as technology. In fact, that's what self-esteem is about. No matter what limitations you have, physical or mental, you can always be certain that by using your mind, you are capable of living and worthy of happiness, because the mind is a tool of survival. So what if another person has a greater capacity of any kind, that does not hinder your ability to grasp reality, no comparison of being less or more is necessary. Even those with the most severe of mental incapacity are able to grasp reality and all the important concepts relating to it, though it may take a lot longer.

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Yes. No matter how limited the intelligence of the individual it is possible to think and achieve something. Now if the person were mentally retarded that accomplishment might only be an understanding of the concept 2+3=5 but that is still an accomplishment.

The accomplishment leading to the self esteem is not measured on some grand collective scale but on an individual basis against ones own abilities. Just as my self esteem does not depend on your perception of me, my accomplishments are not measured against anything but my own effort and capacity.

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Any person is competent to think, the extent of your intellectual capacity - if it is to mean that no two brain's are identical due to genetic differences - does not change that. Such a capacity doesn't determine what you can know, only what is the best way for you to learn. There is nothing out there a person is incapable of understanding, all they have to do is take the time to think about whatever is they are having trouble with. Knowledge is built up from lower level knowledge, there is no reason to think there's a point you'll reach where there is no more progression to be had. At worst, intellectual capacity only limits how fast you can learn, but I suspect even that can be overcome with practice as well as technology. In fact, that's what self-esteem is about. No matter what limitations you have, physical or mental, you can always be certain that by using your mind, you are capable of living and worthy of happiness, because the mind is a tool of survival. So what if another person has a greater capacity of any kind, that does not hinder your ability to grasp reality, no comparison of being less or more is necessary. Even those with the most severe of mental incapacity are able to grasp reality and all the important concepts relating to it, though it may take a lot longer.

Yes, this seems logical, because I can´t think of any phenomenon I wouldn´t be able to grasp. But how do we know that a living organism, who is able to grasp some concepts, can grasp all? As far as I know, gorillas and perhaps other species of monkeys can grasp some concepts, but yet their intellectual capacity is not on our level. Can´t that be the case with humans as well?

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Can one achieve self-esteem no matter how low one´s intellectual capacity is?
If one actually lacks the capacity to reason, then no, but such a mental disability doesn't just describe people who are stupid, it describes an extreme state with no ability to communicate or understand.
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As far as I know, gorillas and perhaps other species of monkeys can grasp some concepts, but yet their intellectual capacity is not on our level.
I think that is not the case, although it has become popular (in popular science land) to make that claim. Gorillas and chimps do not grasp concepts: they literally lack the cognitive mechanism for forming concepts. There is a superficial resemblance between animal mechanisms of association, and actual concepts. The fact that some species of ant are genetically wired to ranch aphids as a source of food does not mean that ants have and understand the concept "aphid".
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I think that is not the case, although it has become popular (in popular science land) to make that claim. Gorillas and chimps do not grasp concepts: they literally lack the cognitive mechanism for forming concepts. There is a superficial resemblance between animal mechanisms of association, and actual concepts. The fact that some species of ant are genetically wired to ranch aphids as a source of food does not mean that ants have and understand the concept "aphid".

I guess, so an entity capable of grasping concepts can grasp all concepts (eventually)?

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I guess, so an entity capable of grasping concepts can grasp all concepts (eventually)?

The ability to conceptualize requires the ability to form abstracts about related things to identify them as being related.

The nature of the concept is unimportant. The ability to recognize THAT there are concepts - ie: groupings in which multiple units fit - and to integrate them is what matters.

Even if you cannot grasp all concepts - like you can't understand advanced calculus - you still have the ability to conceptualize. You understand that calculus *is* a concept, even if you're no good at it.

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The ability to conceptualize requires the ability to form abstracts about related things to identify them as being related.

The nature of the concept is unimportant. The ability to recognize THAT there are concepts - ie: groupings in which multiple units fit - and to integrate them is what matters.

Even if you cannot grasp all concepts - like you can't understand advanced calculus - you still have the ability to conceptualize. You understand that calculus *is* a concept, even if you're no good at it.

You might not be good at math, but anyone can learn even if it takes a lifetime, right?

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I guess, so an entity capable of grasping concepts can grasp all concepts (eventually)?
Yes, indeed this is in the nature of concepts. A concept is not just an arbitrary collection of objects and a word to go with it, it requires a "rule" for identification, and must serve the function of human cognition (thus must be consistent with the nature of human cognition). See ITOE hc. 2, esp:

Concepts cannot be formed at random. All concepts are formed by first differentiating two or more existents from other existents. All conceptual differentiations are made in terms of commensurable characteristics (i.e., characteristics possessing a common unit of measurement). No concept could be formed, for instance, by attempting to distinguish long objects from green objects. Incommensurable characteristics cannot be integrated into one unit.

On the other hand, higher order concepts such as "exponential" depend on lower level concepts such as exponentiation which depends on multiplication (which, cognitively depends on something lower, but I'm not sure if it is addition or scaling). So one can face huge problems in understanding a high level concept if you have no knowledge of the units that it integrates.

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The variable contributing to the extent of one's self-esteem is not related to one's IQ, level of education, professional-level career, or such considerations. The variable that sets one's self-esteem pertains to that aspect of your personality that chooses to face facts, no matter the cost.

Living qua man is living as the most intelligent sort of animal on the planet, but the key to that is the fact that reason requires a self-imposed discipline. Whatever one's IQ, knowledge, experience, etc., we all face exactly the same challenge to observe the primacy of existence over our wishes, preferences, fears, past commitments, etc.

Your self-esteem is based on your intellectual honesty, not your intellectual power.

Mindy

Edited by Mindy
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I´ve just listened to the audiobook "The psychology of Self-Esteem" by Nathaniel Branden (a book which I can recommend) and here is a quote;

"Self-Confidence is confidence in one´s mind, in it´s reliability as a tool of cognition. Such confidence is not the conviction that one can never make an error, rather it is a conviction that one is competent to think, to judge, to know. It is the confidence of knowing that one places no value or consideration higher than reality".

The self-confidence that comes with self-esteem is not the conviction that one´s mind can grasp everything and never be wrong, it is the conviction that one has chosen the right method of dealing with reality.

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