In almost any discussion of the benefits of Objectivism, I'm continually confronted with the argument that it's bad to be selfish, to take pride in self or in accomplishment or achievement, that it's the team not the individual. I've always had difficulty with the culture of humility and humbleness and the opinion that people that don't obey are bad.

In this article by Paul Rosenburg, he puts forth a discussion of where much of that belief arises from:

"But whatever motivated the adults of my youth, they were mostly wrong – it’s not our overvaluation of ourselves that is the real problem; it’s our undervaluation.

Here is a passage from G.K. Chesterton’s The Defendant that makes this argument:

There runs a strange law through the length of human history — that men are continually tending to undervalue their
environment, to undervalue their happiness, to undervalue themselves. The great sin of mankind, the sin typified by the fall of
Adam, is the tendency, not towards pride, but towards this weird and horrible humility.

I think Chesterton was entirely correct, and I think we have all been surrounded by, and influenced by, a “weird and horrible humility.”

Most of us, most of the time, fear making errors, think about our failures and deficits, and live in a sea of guilt. Not only is this dark self-image unnecessary, but it degrades us and is built upon falsehoods.

We are, since childhood, trained to view ourselves as dangerous creatures, teetering on the edge of error and harm. We absorb these ideas through what currently passes as “law” and by parts of modern religion… particularly the doctrine of “original sin.”

Even the definition of “good” is held to be “selflessness,” which clearly maintains that “self” is bad.

Bear in mind that I’m not saying all humans are good. Clearly, some of them are violent and vile. But these are a small minority, and we should not lump normal people in with them."

Can those taught to doubt themselves and maintain humility ever understand Objectivism or an Objectivist?