Why is strength admirable?

[Cimarron]

Not physical strength, strength in any field or skill.

I could understand an instinctual drive to appreciate strength, but besides that? Anything?

 

[Santosha]

If we define strength as an inherent capacity to manifest power, to endure and to resist then it links up with survival, which leads to the preference of existance and non-existance. But you already have that covered. uhm... I'll have to think about this one a bit more.. but I'm leaning to the idea that one can have enough strength to simply survive and still seek more. It's this seeking more that will nail it. Why progress or advance, why desire more, better, higher quality of life in general.. the answer to these will be interwoven with non-survival related strength and probably comes back to ego-identification. Ya.. maybe not, lol.

 

[UniqueMixture]

It's a challenge. Gets the blood pumping. Makes your sex drive kick up. Also life valuing behavior

 

[Elfboy]

Not physical strength, strength in any field or skill.
I could understand an instinctual drive to appreciate strength, but besides that? Anything?

strength accomplishes tasks, accomplishing tasks brings results, results bring physical comfort, beauty, safety or some other benefit.

 

[RDF]

Not physical strength, strength in any field or skill.

I could understand an instinctual drive to appreciate strength, but besides that? Anything?

Everyone is fighting some kind of demon.

If you fight demons in the outer world, you are applying yourself 100% to an external goal, and you gain from a win. The loser yields something, and the win strengthens you.

If you fight demons in the inner world, OTOH, you split yourself in half, and a win in one area is simultaneously a loss in another. With yourself as the enemy, it’s difficult to gain from a win; a win weakens you as much as it strengthens you.

I’m not saying that people shouldn’t fight their inner demons; after all, you have to start somewhere. But a strong person is perceived as someone who has already conquered his inner demons and has gone on to fight in the outside world where the prizes are bigger and more tangible; whereas the weak person is perceived as somone who is probably still stuck at the earlier stage of trying to master himself before he can take on the world.

Hence the stronger person is seen as more admirable, more in control of himself and his environment, more "mature" in a number of ways.

Just brainstorming here; don’t take it too seriously.

 

[ceecee]

Not physical strength, strength in any field or skill.

I could understand an instinctual drive to appreciate strength, but besides that? Anything?

Confidence and reliability are very attractive traits. Both of those usually flow from people who have skill or strength.

 

[Turtledove]

We all have to go out and face our metaphorical giants in the real world someday, even if we don't want to.

 

[Cimarron]

Confidence and reliability are very attractive traits. Both of those usually flow from people who have skill or strength.

Why is confidence an admirable trait? Reliability has a quality of "tangible evidence" about it, but confidence itself doesn't prove skill or strength.

[MENTION=14453]Turtledove[/MENTION]

We all have to go out and face our metaphorical giants in the real world someday, even if we don't want to.

And strength shows the capacity to do that? That would make some sense, I guess... Or did you mean something else?

 

[Turtledove]

[MENTION=4883]Cimarron[/MENTION] Well, it can go two ways. But really I was talking to myself. It's complicated.

 

[UniqueMixture]

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/confidence.html

Confidence is hope in action. It's the feeling of existential security, that everything is going to be beautiful. If you feel that success is due to luck or chance you will not take the same actions as if you feel you are in control of the creation of your own reality. That feeling is confidence.

 

[ceecee]

Why is confidence an admirable trait? Reliability has a quality of "tangible evidence" about it, but confidence itself doesn't prove skill or strength.

People gain confidence the more they do something and the better they get at it, no? And wishy washy, indecisive people who fear taking any action (as in not even try) are not attractive at all.

 

[Cimarron]

People gain confidence the more they do something and the better they get at it, no?

Not necessarily. It gives the appearance of being skilled, but it could all be in the person's mind.

 

[rav3n]

Strength equates to the opportunity for me to relax a bit, since I can rely on the other person to do their portion of the work whether platonically or non-platonically.

 

[MacGuffin]

Strength is admired by Es and Js because it quantifies their need to compare competitively to others... how else would they know who is winning at life?

 

[rav3n]

Strength to IPs means they'll just have more and worse cognitive dissonance, so why should they value something that's detrimental to them?

 

[MacGuffin]

IPs aren't gauche like EJs, constantly demonstrating their arbitrary "strength", like a bodybuilder flexing in the mirror. Pure narcissism.

 

[rav3n]

How would IPs know? They're so lost in their inner worlds, it would take an army to find them and drag them out.

 

[MacGuffin]

Speaking of armies, if EJs weren't constantly engaged in their ruthless competions with other people there would be far less greed, corruption, and war.

This obsession with "strength" is the root of all evil.

 

[rav3n]

IPs = marijuana party. Weed worship.

 

[MacGuffin]

I prefer a stiff drink, thank you!