&gt;The budding asshole has learned, perhaps subconsciously, that other people interrupt them less if they use stronger language.<p>But there should be some underlying reason why stronger language warrants more airtime.<p>I have another hypothesis why assholes seem smart.<p>Sometimes I catch some error that people around me spread. But I can&#x27;t quite articulate it at first. Then it reappears and becomes somekind of norm. At this point I get frustrated.<p>Then something happens which to me shows how fucked up things have gone. I finally articulate what I felt was wrong. Also all that bottled up frustration surfaces. This is probably when I appear most &quot;smart&quot;, because well thought out stuff goes public suddenly. It has actually nothing to do with how smart I actually am. It&#x27;s just that certain assholiness and talking smart stuff happens at the same time.<p>Extrapolate and people who are assholes all the time seem inherently smart.<p>We are herd animals. Teams competing with teams is usually perceived as empowering. Individuals competing with individuals is usually perceived as grueling. Assholes are not the problem, they are a symptom.