As a species we are created the same.  As a society, we compartmentalize one’s standing in the economic hierarchy. Where one is placed in this structure determines their behavior and relations with others.  This system has been in place for centuries past and until we change our outlook, it will remain as such.

We compare ourselves to this paradox by seeking out who is smarter, who is richer, who is more attractive, who is more popular, who is more athletic, who is better established, who is more powerful, who is happier, etc.

Once we are able to hone on any of these aspects that may upgrade our standing, we feel our ego being validated. The more we attain, the more medals we proudly display.

The problem arises when an exaggerated feeling of being superior to others is engrained into our psyche. Oddly enough, oftentimes, the people that show-off only do so because they feel inferior to compete with others on the useful side of life. These people are not in harmony with society.

There are many subtle forms of ego that can be observed in people and, more importantly, in our self. When we are able to catch ourselves acting or feeling superior, we become awoken to this characteristic in our personality.

If we are not aware of it, we continue to feed it and allow it to grow. Our interactions with others may lead us to seek any imbalance in our favor between us and the other person. We enjoy that we know more or are better than another.

This is precisely why so many people are addicted to gossiping since it often carries an element of malicious criticism and judgment of others. Fueling these thoughts strengthens the ego through the implied but imagined superiority based on negative judgments

If we know that someone has more, knows more, or can do more than us, we tend to feel threatened because the feeling of “less” affects our sense of personal value and we often react to this by trying to restore our value by diminishing or criticizing the value of the other person’s possessions, knowledge, or abilities.

Or we may decide to shift the focus by competing with the other person or even associating with them, especially if they are seen as important in the eyes of others.

We are the result of whatever factors impacted, shaped and influenced us through our individual experiences and nothing more. We all carry a unique code of events that is ours alone and no one else can duplicate that.

While perhaps externally, we feel that we can be like someone else or better than they are, this is only shaped by a false understanding of ourself.