Why I Decided to Become an Elitist

[Tiggy]

Elitism is not an objective measure of accomplishment. It is a subjective perception of ego stemming from accomplishment. A person can act elitist one day and friendly the next, or instructive the day after.

You are too close minded in your definition of elitist. It has been shown, by definition, that elitist itself does not have negativity by definition. Only through bias of the user is the word negative.

I can, statistically as I said above, say I'm elite. Simply knowing that I am, and believing the numbers to be true and confident that they are right, would make me elitist with zero ego about it and zero negative connotation. It's a belief about myself based purely in statistical facts.

But do continue to preach negativity. I'm sure pushing more prejudice into the word is good for everyone. All you are doing is projecting your personal bias on others. Do look up the definition of bias. You may find it enlightening.

[Rendecrow]

You are too close minded in your definition of elitist. It has been shown, by definition, that elitist itself does not have negativity by definition. Only through bias of the user is the word negative.

Definition and the common use of a word are two very different things. I assure you that in an MMO when someone uses the word "elitist" 9 out of 10 times it is in a negative way. Heck, there are many "bad words" out there that by the dictionary definition are not bad, such as the word for a female dog, but when used in common language is very bad. Just because the definition is not bad does not mean that the common use is not bad.

[Tiggy]

Definition and the common use of a word are two very different things. I assure you that in an MMO when someone uses the word "elitist" 9 out of 10 times it is in a negative way. Heck, there are many "bad words" out there that by the dictionary definition are not bad, such as the word for a female dog, but when used in common language is very bad. Just because the definition is not bad does not mean that the common use is not bad.

The entire point is the "common usage" in this context is using the word with a specific bias attached to it. The word, by definition, carries no explicit bias and can, as the op is saying, be used in a non-negative manner. The bias itself is the problem. Not the meaning of the word elitist. The bias itself is a specific prejudice. Prejudice, historically, is awful. Anyone arguing for the continuation of this bias is simply propagating a negative prejudice. This does no good for anyone what-so-ever. We should always fight prejudice tooth and nail. Not roll over because that's just how things are. The only way to remove the prejudice is to take the word back just as the OP is trying to do. African American men took the N-word back generations ago. It is the exact same concept at play here.

Simply accepting the prejudice does nothing to fix it.

It's sad how many people in this thread are fighting tooth and nail to propagate a prejudiced world view. We as a species should be trying to overcome this. Not remain actively complacent in using words that divide us as a people. Prejudice is the tool of hate and the people who spread it the wielder of hate.

[Kallera]

The entire point is the "common usage" in this context is using the word with a specific bias attached to it. The word, by definition, carries no explicit bias and can, as the op is saying, be used in a non-negative manner. The bias itself is the problem. Not the meaning of the word elitist.

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/elitist
"Elitist or élitist
adjective
Characteristic of or resembling a snob:
snobbish, snobby.
Informal: high-hat, snooty, stuck-up, uppish, uppity.
noun
One who despises people or things regarded as inferior, especially because of social or intellectual pretension:
snob.
Informal: snoot.
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved"


From https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elitism:

"The term elitism is also sometimes used to denote situations in which a group of people claiming to possess high abilities or simply an in-group or cadre grant themselves extra privileges at the expense of others. This form of elitism may be described as discrimination..."

Look, if I meet a person, and am convinced that they have seen more of the game than me, and they insist I do something i disagree with based solely on the gear that they have, what is that? Snobbish behavior.

If they say I should do something i disagree with or else a certain mechanic will kill me, that is not snobbish behavior.

And the very fact that you have to call it that way makes your comparison fall flat on its face.