# Ego vs Confidence



## goon175 (Nov 13, 2013)

What, in your opinion, is the difference between ego and confidence? Is one more useful than the other? Why or why not? Are there times that you have used one or the other to great advantage or disadvantage?


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## medicchick (Nov 13, 2013)

Both can get you in lots of trouble and both can be fun to crush in others when they run their suck without having situational awareness.

That being said, I've used my confidence in my skills plenty of times as a medic (or faked it) in the olden days.  If you project that this is a walk in the park for you and everything is calm and normal you can effect your patient.  Ego is knowing when to ask for help in those situations BEFORE something bad happens.


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## RetPara (Nov 13, 2013)

Confidence is when it works.

Ego is when it fails.


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## DasBoot (Nov 13, 2013)

I think it's how you present yourself and how you prepare for the task/challenge at hand. Confidence is the guy who keeps quiet and doesn't talk about what he's doing, goes out, stays focused and succeeds. Or he can fail but in doing so he blames no one but himself and does not let the defeat define him or deter him from trying again. Ego is a castle built on pillars of sand.


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## AWP (Nov 13, 2013)

I liken confidence to something internal and ego as something you project. Confidence is silent, ego isn't.


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## OSINT (Nov 13, 2013)

Freefalling said:


> I liken confidence to something internal and ego as something you project. Confidence is silent, ego isn't.



I can't "like" things so I'll just quote this.

In my world I deal with two kind of people, hedge fund managers you never hear of but manage hundreds of millions of dollars of funds. Those guys are confident.  Then you have the wannabe money manager who rant about all the things they can do but have zero track-record with client funds.  That's ego.


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## tweeder (Nov 13, 2013)

Confidence: During jump week, I had confidence in my equipment and training.

Ego: During Jump week my ego wouldn't let me show anyone how scared I was to jump out of a plane.

Both have a benefit WHEN KEPT IN CHECK. Being overconfident causes one to under prepare. Having too much of an ego makes one intolerable.


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## Centermass (Nov 13, 2013)

Ego = Flaunting

Confidence = Doing

One needs an audience and the other doesn't care, one way or the other.


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## Johca (Nov 13, 2013)

Agree with response #8 (Centermass above)


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## Red Flag 1 (Nov 13, 2013)

Ego, is self. Confidence shades, and displays ego.


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## Diamondback 2/2 (Nov 13, 2013)

I think you have to have a proper amount of ego (I.e. self esteem) to have sufficient confidence in your knowledge, experience or skill. If you are lacking in ego, it more than likely comes from a lack of confidence. If you have to much ego, it probably is coming from to much or a false confidence.

No offense to Cback or x SF med, just using them as a humouring examples for my point of view.

Example 1: @cback0220 has a big ego, b/c he is overly confident that he can bang your mom.

Example 2: @x SF med has proportionate ego, b/c of his confidence in his education and use of proper spelling and grammar.

We may view Cback as someone with to much ego b/c of his false confidence in his self to bang moms. But even though X SF med's ego may be more dominant when being a spelling Nazi, it is acceptable due to his confidence and track record for being correct in his spelling and or grammar corrections. 

Everyone has an ego, the proportion of said ego to their actual confidence, knowledge, skill, or track record, is defined by the people to whom that ego is projected upon, and how in or out of proportion the ego actually is.

Now someone who keeps their ego in check but still maintains their confidence, is someone I would say is well balanced and humble. I've normally seen type A's with dominate ego's (inflated or not) become more balanced and humble around new people or people to whom they are unfamiliar. A few times I have seen type A's go the other direction as well.

Although there is a difference between ego and confidence, I don't really think you can divide the two, nor do I think you should. I think maintaining balance of oneself is deeply connected to the balance of one's ego and self confidence.

Just my $.02


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## 0699 (Nov 13, 2013)

"A man's got to know his limitations."


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## policemedic (Nov 14, 2013)

Confidence is something that is grounded in fact; ego often is not. 

Confidence knows when it is out of its depth; ego does not.


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## Muppet (Nov 15, 2013)

I have been accused of having an ego. I believe confidence and ego run a thin line. I can't speak of SOF but as a Paratrooper, we all pretty much had ego's, thinking our shit did not stink. I believe I am humble on what I do and also try to keep things in check. Now, I do come off cocky but at least in my field, if you show up to a call, shooting or some dick head pumping his chest out and display a weak attitude, you will get walked on. So, I need to display a confident attitude, which gets misconstrued as ego. Understand?

F.M.


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## RetPara (Nov 15, 2013)

Firemedic said:


> I have been accused of having an ego.


  I am SHOCKED at this statement!!!!!

You want to see ego's....  Talk to a Doctor (especially any type of specialist surgeons) and tell them they're fucked up and wrong.   After that, talk to a fighter jock/aircrew that have air to air kills....  Then talk to an attack helicopter pilot in the CW2-juniorCW4 range....

After completing the above... you can then wipe the ego off in a hot shower....   

Now for a real treat fuck with a SGM/CSM with a full Tower of Power; with all evidence pointing at one of the LT's or junior Cpts on the staff...


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## dknob (Nov 15, 2013)

I think it should be more Confidence vs Arrogance!


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## Marauder06 (Nov 15, 2013)

dknob said:


> I think it should be more Confidence vs Arrogance!



I think that's a better distinction to which more people will be able to relate.  I lot of people don't understand what "ego" is.  They think they do, but they really don't.  Which means there will be a whole lot of people either not understanding your differentiation between the two, or discounting it entirely.  IMO confidence vs. arrogance is a more-intuitive distinction that might garner a better response.


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## policemedic (Nov 15, 2013)

Marauder06 said:


> I think that's a better distinction to which more people will be able to relate.  I lot of people don't understand what "ego" is.  They think they do, but they really don't.  Which means there will be a whole lot of people either not understanding your differentiation between the two, or discounting it entirely.  IMO confidence vs. arrogance is a more-intuitive distinction that might garner a better response.



There you go, bringing Freud into it.  

Arrogance may be a better descriptor for what we've been discussing.  Most of the replies could fairly be said to be referring to arrogance.

I'd be willing to bet that the majority of us on this site have been referred to as arrogant at one time or another.  I know I have; clearly those people were wrong .  I think confidently expressing a strong opinion, even without any semblance of rancor, can often be misinterpreted as arrogance.  This is particularly true if you are correcting someone.


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## goon175 (Nov 15, 2013)

dknob said:


> I think it should be more Confidence vs Arrogance!



Great point, I hadn't thought of it in the frame of reference before, but that is a very applicable distinction that I should be making in this chapter...


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## Muppet (Nov 15, 2013)

This is me...This is the world...I hold my palm out, point to the middle and say "me" and then make a circle around me and say "this is the world". Get it. I am the fucking man.

F.M.


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## x SF med (Nov 15, 2013)

Firemedic said:


> This is me...This is the world...I hold my palm out, point to the middle and say "me" and then make a circle around me and say "this is the world". Get it. I am the fucking man.
> 
> F.M.


 
But in your case, it's not arrogance, it's mental health issues...  so... we just ignore you, because it's much easier.


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## Diamondback 2/2 (Nov 15, 2013)

From Websters online dictionary:

 Main Entry: 1con·fi·dence Pronunciation: \ˈkän-fə-dən(t)s, -ˌden(t)s\Function: nounDate: 14th century
1 a : a feeling or consciousness of one's powers or of reliance on one's circumstances <had perfect confidence in her ability to succeed> <met the risk with brash confidence> b :faith or belief that one will act in a right, proper, or effective way <have confidence in a leader> 2 : the quality or state of being certain : certitude
<they had every confidence of success> 3 a : a relation of trust or intimacy <took his friend into his confidence> b :reliance on another's discretion <their story was told in strictest confidence> c :support especially in a legislative body <vote ofconfidence> 4 : a communication made in confidence : secret
 <accused him of betraying a confidence>

*** 

Ego;
Pronunciation: \ˈē-(ˌ)gō alsoˈe-\Function: nounInflected Form(s): plural egosEtymology: New Latin, from Latin, I — more at i
Date: 1789
1 : the self especially as contrasted with another self or the world 2 a : egotism
 2 b :self-esteem
 1 3 : the one of the three divisions of the psyche in psychoanalytic theory that serves as the organized conscious mediator between the person and reality especially by functioning both in the perception of and adaptation to reality — compare id
, superego

— ego·less adjective

***


 Main Entry: ar·ro·gance Pronunciation: \ˈer-ə-gən(t)s,ˈa-rə-\Function: nounEtymologyate: 14th century
: an attitude of superiority manifested in an manner or in claims or assumptions


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## Diamondback 2/2 (Nov 15, 2013)

IDK why that smiley is in there lol. On my phone so a bit hard to copy & paste/ link.


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## Coyote (Nov 15, 2013)

I've always been under the impression confidence is being comfortable/humble when doing something as apposed to having an ego where you're cocky/arrogant when doing something.


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## Polar Bear (Nov 15, 2013)

Coyote said:


> I've always been under the impression confidence is being comfortable/humble when doing something as apposed to having an ego where you're cocky/arrogant when doing something.


Have to agree, but they can be confused. As a salesman customers have taken me as Ego when it has not be.


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## Coyote (Nov 15, 2013)

Pro Patria said:


> Have to agree, but they can be confused. As a salesman customers have taken me as Ego when it has not be.



I personally wouldn't see a salesman being egotistical unless he acted like Ben Stiller from Dodgeball saying shit like "Here at Globo Gym, we're better than you and we know it!". I think the key factor between differentiating the two is the element of humbleness. Although, like you said, some of your customers and people in general have formed certain impressions of what they think what ego/confidence is or even see them as the _same_.


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