Admiration

evolvedForm · #1 07-21-2006, 04:03 PM

Admiration: hidden envy? What do you think?

evolvedForm · #2 07-21-2006, 10:41 PM

Ok if no one will reply, i guess i will. I have a suspicion that envy and admiration are two peas in a pod. The only difference is, we admire people we wish well, while we envy people we don't really like.

Both are the result of seeing something about a person that is better than ourselves. The result is admiration, envy, or perhaps indifference. Then again if something strikes us in a certain way it's not likely we'll be indifferent to it, at least subconsciously.

madnak · #3 07-22-2006, 02:59 AM

This seems pretty semantic to me, but I'd say admiration is about who someone is, while envy is about what someone has. And then jealousy is when we have a low level of admiration and a high level of envy.

soon2bepro · #4 07-22-2006, 10:45 AM

Admiration is liking someone because of X (something good that they are/have), while envy is disliking them because of X.

Basically, yes, you can react both ways about the same thing. One is healthy and productive, the other is malicious and negative.

Wubbie075 · #5 07-25-2006, 03:46 PM

why are you assuming a relationship between envy and dislike?

you can envy someone and still like (or even love) them... for that matter you can admire someone and dislike them...

I envy my friends who have craploads money more than I do... I still like them

I admire other people I know for certain traits they have, but I do not like them

Enrique · #6 07-25-2006, 04:17 PM

[ QUOTE ]
why are you assuming a relationship between envy and dislike?

you can envy someone and still like (or even love) them... for that matter you can admire someone and dislike them...

I envy my friends who have craploads money more than I do... I still like them

I admire other people I know for certain traits they have, but I do not like them

[/ QUOTE ]

Your point is good but it doesn't contradict soon2bepro

In "I envy my friends that have craploads of money" you dislike them because they have craploads of money. You dislike them on that regard, but still like them in general.

In "I admire because of personal traits" You like them because of some persona trait, in that regard. Yet you dislike in general.

madnak · #7 07-25-2006, 04:56 PM

I think you (and others in this thread) are confusing envy and jealousy. I can want what someone else has without any dislike intruding.

Edit: No, I just checked the dictionary and I'm the one who has it wrong. Apparently resentment is included in the definition of envy.

evolvedForm · #8 07-25-2006, 07:07 PM

This isn't as simple as like and dislike. Both of those are too vague of concepts, which are usually spoken of in the conscious form. In other words, I could say "there are many reasons, some known and some unknown, for why that person irritates me. Therefore, I can consciously say that I don't like that person."

Like and dislike are aggregates of unconscious thought/feeling. Envy and admiration, however, are originally sentiments, which can be guessed at after they make their appearance. For example: "I felt something wrathful when he made that showy display of wealth. Perhaps envy was growing inside of me."

Someone said that we admire somebody when we like them and envy somebody when we don't like them. That almost sounds as if the subject chooses who he admires and who he envies. Envy and admiration are sentiments; they arise in our subconscious independent of any choice on our part.

Of the two sentiments, admiration is the more generous and positive trait. Nevertheless, both arise from a lack or a void, so they are both negative, reactive sentiments. When we admire somebody we do so because we are displeased with ourselves. The same is true of envy.