I’d like us to run a little experiment:
On a scale of 1 - 10, 1 being not at all and 10 being as much as is humanly possible, how much better than other people are you?
Whatever your answer is, jot it down somewhere or keep it in mind. We’ll get back to it.
I’m not sure if anyone has ever heard of the concept of human exceptionalism. I thought it up myself and decided to look it up, just in case it referred to something other than what I had in mind. In environmentalist philosophy, human exceptionalism is more commonly referred to as Anthropocentrism, the belief that humans are at the centre of the universe and every other thing or being exists as a means to human ends. In historical studies, exceptionalism refers to the belief that a country, society, institution, movement, individual or era is unusual or extraordinary, usually with some implied superiority. America, for instance, suffers from this belief in the form of American exceptionalism which posits that America is inherently different from other nations.
What I however have in mind as I write this piece, is something much simpler than the broad terms above. I am looking at things on the microlevel of each individual human being and the belief everyone of us has that we are in some ways special, or experiencing unique circumstances, and thus deserving of concessions and kindnesses we do not extend to others.
Let me narrate the incident that truly drove this home for me: I was on my way to work one day, and just ahead of me, a woman spat by the side of the road and the first thought that came to my mind was “How disgusting.” However, before I could continue to berate the woman internally, I had a moment of insight. I remembered an occasion when I’d had cause to do the very same thing. I had a really bad cold, nose bleed bad, and couldn’t breathe so I had to spit the phlegm out to clear my airways. Unfortunately, I happened to be walking home at the time, so spit by the side of the road I did.
I described my cold the way I did because that’s the way I thought of it; exculpatory and exceptionally. I spat because I had to, the woman in front of me spat because she had bad manners. That’s the way most people think of themselves; as “good” people who occasionally do bad things because they have to. However, since it’s not my place to decide for anyone what’s good and what’s not, the question I asked focuses on your perception of yourself in relation to others.
If you’re a relatively modest person, your answer would probably have been 7. If you’re a relatively self-assured person, you might have picked an 8 or 9. But it’s a trick question. The true answer is that no one is better than anyone else. We are all doing our best and sometimes that best is good enough, other times it’s not. Human exceptionalism shows up in many ways, almost all of them unkind; when you belittle the efforts of someone trying to lose weight, when you are certain you’d have left that abusive relationship you see someone else in, when you get angry with your significant other for saying they’re too busy for date night or even when you don’t pull your weight at work or on a project thereby creating more work for others.
While every human is unique, we are more alike than we are different. Be empathetic and kind by extending the same grace you expect from others unto them. This way, you’d be able to avoid the many and varied pitfalls of human exceptionalism. After all, we are to love our neighbours as ourselves. Until next time, Peace and Care Bears.
Interesting stuff, although I think your original question suffers from a concise definition of what you mean by 'better'. Morally better? Athletically? Socially?
Let's suppose you mean better in the sense of being 'morally upright'. Your conclusion that 'no one is better than anyone else' is highly debatable. I consider myself better than many people and not out of conceit. I see you for example, as being better than Hitler or a paedophile. In a sense, while human exceptionalism may be fuelled by ego, there is a sense of peace that comes with doing the right thing. And if that means me considering myself morally better than other people, I'll take that in stride. I also think as an upside that when we look at certain people as being exceptional or of higher moral standards than others, there's a natural tendency to aspire to those standards. MLK, Mandela, Florence Nightingale, Helen Keller—and a host of other exceptional people who inspired many are testament to the merits of human exceptionalism.