good topic...interesting you used the term arrogance in the title. Ever since I started going to college that is one thing I've noticed, especially among the professors. Unfortuneately, it is a trait I cannot stand. Even my philosophy professor stated that as one acquires more knowledge, there is a certain amount of arrogance that comes with it. My french professor, even though I get along with her real well, has that trait. It's was kind of sad to walk into class on the first day only to hear my teachers brag about what degree they have, where they went to school, and for how long. As far as I'm concerned, how long a person goes to school doesn't make them a better person, maybe smarter, but not better.
For all you people 'weeping and gnashing your teeth' about having not gone to college, be careful. Be wary of the person you might become. Arrogant, haughty, taking every chance to toot your own horn, I've met too many of these people during my studies. Not just the professors, either. While on my studies in France, I noticed a difference between the European students and the Americans. Europeans: intelligent, thoughtful, insightful, and best of all, not arrogant. Americans: thoughtless, careless, not thinking before they speak, attempting to control the conversation at every turn, loud, obnoxious, ignorant, and of course, arrogant. I was always under the impression that a university is the place where one is eager to learn new customs, cultures, ways of doing things, etc. I was mistaken. Instead, many students take their degree as a sign of deserving respect without earning it. Going to college does not make one a wise person. Many of us, simply by being bullied by the borg and coming out of it, are much wiser than some of these cretins.
If you haven't been to college, don't beat yourself up over it too badly. There is a price to pay for everything. If you were to meet yourself after 4 or 5 years of college, you may not like whom you meet.
JUST BRING IT