Humility

Why do we value humility?  We value confidence because it often means a person has something to offer or that they are good at something. Yet we dislike arrogant, over-confident people because they often disappoint, the oversell and under-deliver. So is it simply because humble people tend to undersell and over-deliver? I never studied evolutionary psychology, and I bet the answer can be founded somewhere in that realm.

Where is the line between confidence and arrogance, or humility and self-loathing? I guess in both cases it comes down to whether the attitude is justified. There may be some mismatch between a persons own beliefs and what is the reality. A confident person believes in his or her own ability and can back it up when put to the test. An arrogant person also believes in his or her own ability, but is unable to back it up. Likewise a humble person, may lack confidence, but does possess some skill or trait. And a self-loathing person, lacks confidence because they do not possess a certain trait.

And yet, confidence is not they absence of humility and vice versa. Perhaps what is common between the two is that both inspire trust in a person. And in both cases the observer knows the truth about the person, that that person will follow-through with whatever task.

TIATF: My ability, my heritage, my health