Disappointment

I like people, but they continually disappoint me. I joke that hypocrisy is my favorite human flaw, but I still cringe when I see it in action with people I know. Hanlon's razor, never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity, allows me plow through many of my greatest disappointments.

One human trait I cannot stand, however, is smugness. It's one thing when the person acting smug clearly knows more than you do, but when that person is smug with little justification, you just want to smack him in the mouth. In fact, when someone acts smug because he is correct, I still want to smack him in the mouth for lack of humility.

While I believe a person has the right to be proud of his personal accomplishments, I think he has to acknowledge the role of luck, opportunity, and advantages that may have contributed to those accomplishments. Hard working people can fail, lazy people can succeed, and smart people can act stupidly. Science teaches us that truly smart people test their theories, hypotheses, and conclusions all the time, even if it is only to refine the best science we have. People who are confident in all their views suffer from Dunning Krueger Syndrome - too stupid to recognize their own stupidity.

We all have flaws, so if your standards are too high, you will have no friends and relatives you can tolerate. I just wish more people were self aware and did their best to correct their bad behavior.