On Condemning One's Own Vices Harshly
[Trivia: What are the names of the three hyenas in the Lion King? And who voices each of them?]
There seems to be a pattern where people are extra condemnatory towards the faults that they themselves are guilty of. This is different from projection, where people assume (without realizing it) that other people must operate the same way that they do. It’s also different from the kind of naked hypocrisy that professional chatterers often exhibit, e.g. where the same media that undermines the world’s only Jewish nation with uniquely unfair coverage is also the fastest to draw “Hitler” comparisons over anything that looks like antisemitism from anyone they don’t like. That seems like a transparent matter of insincerity and opportunism free from any accountability.
No, some people seem sincerely harsher towards their own habitual sins when they appear in other people (although I can’t think of any non-fiction examples). If that’s a real phenomenon—why?
I remember one friend of mine, a software engineer, talking candidly about how intense his physical exercise had become over the years. He said something like, “working out sucks, so I’m sympathetic towards people who don’t work out, because I get it. But also, I make myself work out, so I’m less sympathetic towards them at the same time.” It occurred to me that that might actually be why: if we give in to a temptation, we remain cognizant of how we might have chosen to resist, and perhaps how easy that seems in retrospect. So, seeing someone else doing the same thing, we might know exactly how inexcusable their lapse was.
Perhaps, in all that, there’s still an element of projection. In this framework, we still tacitly assume that the sum total of someone else’s experience amounts to the same choice as in our life. How often that holds is a different question.
Conversely, if I recall correctly, in C.S. Lewis’ autobiography Surprised by Joy, he notes that gambling is one of very few vices that has never held any kind of appeal or temptation for him, and therefore one he does not feel authorized to single out for thunderous condemnation.
~
Answer: Shenzi (Whoopi Goldberg), Banzai (Cheech Marin of Cheech and Chong), and Ed (Jim Cummings).