I've been pontificating about it to myself for long enough to form it into that question. When I think of someone virulently MCS, the content is almost always their perception of others as lessers - NPCs, background characters, or fodder. They are the hero and they could cut through a horde of others and they're frustrated by rules and regulations that say they can't. But I might be so bold as to say that their problem isn't that they see themselves as special, but that they see themselves as exceptional.
The problem is that they're rude to service workers, upset when people step in front of their camera, or judge the choices of others (especially for the effect it has on you e.g. opining during a marriage ceremony). Therefore my thesis of special vs exceptional is that if you are filming yourself on a busy street but you don't obstruct people nor react to people walking through the shot, you're not hurting anyone. You can take up space, but you should be polite while doing it to be someone who cohabitates this one world. You can think yourself a person with a hidden demon within them who must prove themselves to be the best and be monstrously disappointed when you finish second all the while being a weird anime person, but cheating, misrepresenting yourself to others, or expecting others to help you is where you cross the line.
So all that being said, perhaps it's not a problem to think yourself in a unique position to solve a problem no one else has - perchance help people along the way. After all, no one else is you nor has anyone ever been nor will anyone ever be. The world is a collection of individuals. You can think you're cool, smart, mysterious, kind, forgiving, or hang your hat on some other piece of personal esteem and be a great friend, peer, and comrade. On a tangential note, I like how in prominent MMA promotions, after someone is declared the victor, the camera begins to focus on them and their celebration instead of zooming in on someone who is visibly very frustrated by their loss.
You neednt even wrap your brain around the boundless scale of everyone's genius in some aspect nor make yourself less by reminding yourself of it when you think highly of yourself - it is a lesson to learn if you're belittling others.
I'd really like your input and opinions on the matter.
“I am, somehow, less interested in the weight and convolutions of Einstein’s brain than in the near certainty that people of equal talent have lived and died in cotton fields and sweatshops.” ― Stephen Jay Gould, The Panda's Thumb: More Reflections in Natural History
i've always kind of thought of myself as in the role of the 'loser' that people forget/dont want to think about, so i kind of hate this entire line of thought. don't take this personally because i've had and have toxic thought patterns as well. obviously you don't have to hate yourself to avoid 'main character syndrome' but when i see things like 'You can think yourself a person with a hidden demon within them who must prove themselves to be the best and be monstrously disappointed when you finish second' i worry about toxic thought processes. every single person wants to win and doesn't want to lose, this doesn't make you unique. people might have better and worse methods of coping with loss or victory, but its something we all have to deal with. this is how i think when i'm unmedicated or otherwise upset and at my most toxic. i simultaneously think i'm better than everyone around me and worse at the same time. the sentiment 'I like how in prominent MMA promotions, after someone is declared the victor, the camera begins to focus on them and their celebration instead of zooming in on someone who is visibly very frustrated by their loss.' also rubs me the wrong way, ideally the context of a sporting event is such that the 'loser' is not shamed and congratulates the victor as well, both of them glad to contribute to knowledge and development of the sport. like a scientist shouldn't be upset when their hypothesis is disproven, they should be glad to have furthered their knowledge. im a weirdo but i always thought the greek-style war-like sporting mindset of valorizing victory and shaming defeat regardless of context was a toxic cultural current.