

Why We Brag - img
http://topics.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304451104577390392329291890.html

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akshaykarthik
Interestingly enough, there was an AskReddit thread yesterday that consisted
of people bragging. Many people in the thread described it as extremely
therapeutic.

The link is here :
[http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/taiqo/can_we_all_...](http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/taiqo/can_we_all_just_brag_for_a_moment/)

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josefonseca
We're all here on this planet for a limited amount of time. One of the
principles of life is to "leave a mark" on the planet.

We reproduce and feel awesome about our kids, because that is part of our
"mark" on the planet. They'll carry on.

I believe the answer to the question "why do we brag"? Is because it's part of
our instincts to let other human beings know of the "marks we've made" to the
planet. What have we changed on this Earth? What did we accomplish?

If according to the article bragging is on the same brain energetic level as
ingesting food, then obviously bragging is part of our survival instinct. To
reach that level, then it's been there for millions of years.

Which can only mean one thing: it's also part of our most basic instincts
which are to survive and to reproduce.

Maybe bragging has been a way of reproducing in the past?

Food and money(current day weapon) mean survival, why is bragging on par with
those two? It's part of our DNA's assembly language instructions to reproduce
and leave a dent on the planet and telling others about it seems to be a way
to reinforce that instinct. My 2 cents.

Disclaimer: I have absolutely zero knowledge of whatever it is I'm talking
about here.

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michaelburns
This research doesn't answers why we brag. It just tells us what we already
know.. that it feels good to talk about ourselves, but why?

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JSGraef
Perhaps it's for the same reason as why we like to help others in an area
we're knowledgeable about. We are experts of ourselves, we love to talk
authoritatively on subjects we know lots about. It'd be interesting to see if
we get the same "pleasure sensation" from teaching/helping.

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evincarofautumn
That’s probably the case. Teachers certainly seem to find it pleasurable to
teach, and I’ve found it immensely rewarding to tutor CS and SE students while
in college. It’s useful practice as a writer to have someone constantly
challenging you to explain yourself succinctly and clearly.

On the other hand, it’s also great to talk with someone who’s knowledgeable
about your interests. That seems to have less to do with pleasing oneself by
speaking as an authority, and more to do with sharing and collaboration. My
major is not in computing, so it was a breath of fresh air to discover CS
professors and graduate students with whom I could speak freely.

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tmh88j
How did they not touch on a lack of confidence being a reason for bragging?
I've noticed when people tend to brag, sometimes it's because they're
compensating for other issues. I'm not a psychologist nor have I done any lab
studies on this, but I'm sure many of you can agree.

Edit - Isn't bragging generally self-praise, not just talking about yourself?
Saying "I'm the worlds greatest programmer and these are some programs I've
written" and "I like pizza with pepperoni" are two entirely different things.
None the less, both do trigger a rewarding response in your brain. Just
questioning the semantics of the article.

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AznHisoka
I like to use this to my advantage... by making bloggers feel special and talk
about themselves. Then asking them for an interview/link later on. Helps with
the Google juice.

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cmaxwell
What a stupid study.

If asked whether I wanted to talk about someone else for 4 cents (the maximum
they offered) or myself for free I would choose to talk about myself not
because I enjoy talking about myself but because I don't want 4 pennies in my
pocket.

Pennies are shitty and I would guess a lot of people would see pennies as a
penalty.

