Hubris and humility

Hubris and humility.  I've always loved the sound of those two words.  They come from deep inside you, on the back of a breath, as if you were exhaling them from your soul.  And maybe they represent, each in its own way, the essence of who we are.  But they are so different, so antithetical, that if in fact they describe us, then we must choose sides, choose how we wish to be known.  Hubris, the unquestionable belief in our rightness, is often a characteristic of our greatest heroes.  How else would we have become a country, if not for the hubris of John Adams or Ben Franklin?  Where would we be if Christopher Columbus began to question his belief that India was just around the corner?  Isn't that what has driven us to ever greater heights, the confidence of our convictions, the courage to charge on, whether what we did was popular or not?  The greatest athletes believe they're great, that they can win, that they will win, and it is within their power to turn the tide and garner victory from defeat.  So what is it that makes hubris so distasteful?  Why do we dislike arrogance so much?  Is it based on a false belief that we could do what they do...if only?  Maybe some people are just better than the rest of us and deserve to think of themselves that way.  Maybe.  But here's the rub.  Arrogance breeds discord.  Two people on opposite sides of an issue cannot believe themselves absolutely right and not feel the urge to fight.  Righteousness is the mother of contention and the father of war.
In my view the world would be a better place if humans valued humility above hubris.  We would be a better place inhabited by Buddhist monks than Chinese warlords.  We would be better to believe that man is not the brainchild of God, but only a curious development in the vast bush of life.
I have noticed that there are people I have known who seem incapable of having enemies.  People who I can tell are "nice" after five minutes of conversation.  They are soft and gentle and though I don't know what resides in their private mind, I know they are never arrogant and usually humble.  In general women have less hubris then men so I wonder if there is a gene for humility that we lack.  I would like to say that if women ruled the world, there would be no war.  But women who rise to high levels of power seem as corruptable by hubris as their genetic partners, sometimes more-so.  I like to think I am a humble man, but I have this need to project my disdain for poor workmanship as well as arrogant people.  So where does that leave me.  I feel like a snake swallowing its tail, round and round, inside and out.  Bottom line is that hubris beats humility, and the human race (another soulful sound) is destined eventually to be hoist on its own petard of arrogance unless we teach humility to all our children.