Pretentiousness, the act of showing off to others in order to inflate your own talents and abilities, annoys most people...or does it? It certainly seems as if pretentiousness should annoy at least most of us. After all, many of us claim to be moral beings who seek truth and justice for all. But actions always speak louder than words and what we do in real life is often very different from what we report about it later. The reality is that pretentiousness comes from a deep place of wanting to be heard and taken seriously. A person can want to be heard for many different reasons, but the drive to be heard over others can either come from a place of insecurity or downright arrogance. Some people are so haughty that they simply believe that they must be right and cannot be wrong. Others feel left out by society and so devolve into fantasy in an attempt to cope with the pain and rejection that often accompanies being proven incorrect. But, if all people who are pretentious are attempting to do is get our attention, then why on earth would they further push us away by doing something we dislike? Most would simply assume that it is because they are crazy, but that is a lazy person's answer often used to dismiss a person without providing any real evidence. The real answer to why people behave pretentiously is that people respond to pretentious behavior more than they respond to what would be considered "good" behavior. If you think about it, pretentiousness in popular culture and even in what people would call "high culture" (opera, symphonies, ballet, etc.) is pretty much everywhere you look. Billionaires boast on twitter about their latest stock purchases. Celebrities brag constantly about being the best in their respective fields. Politicians constantly talk about all the wonderful things they have done for all of us instead of addressing current problems. But it goes beyond just bragging. Being pretentious is a great way to get everyone to pay attention to you and it has become almost a required part of all marketing campaigns. It is not longer just news you are watching; it is the most unbiased, most professional, most error free professional journalism you have ever seen. It is not longer just a debate; it is a childish war between two ideologies. I can no longer just tell you a fact; I have to cite twenty-nine sources before you will even admit the sky is blue. It is no longer about being rational while keeping an open mind; it is about having the biggest brain in the room and "destroying" detractors with your superior high functioning cognitive abilities. Everyone has to be the best at everything now. However, people are so busy trying inform everyone on the planet that they are the best around that they have forgotten such behavior is the very definition of pretentiousness. So, why are people being so pretentious? Perhaps, deep down, we all would like to be.