- Mr. A thinks he is on top.
- Mr. B thinks Mr. A is below him.
- Sometimes at this stage, we don’t distinguish between the top and the bottom.
- Mr. B speaks his mind openly and frankly.
- Mr. A feels “lowered”.
- Here, Mr. A may claim that Mr. B had an insulting intention to put Mr. A down.
- Since Mr. B originally thinks that Mr. A is below him, there is no “intention to remove (food, etc. from table or altar)” or “insult to insult”.
- So I answer, “There was no intent.”
- Whether there was or was not an intent is not verifiable.
- So there’s no room for argument here.
Based on this exchange, Mr. B can update “I’ll try not to say those things to Mr. A”.
- In that case, Mr. B’s perception update would be “Mr. A is a person with a self-perception that is not true.”
- This new perception itself is also insulting from Mr. A’s point of view.
relevance - Condescension makes equality feel superior.
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