I think self-righteous people fundamentally, whether knowingly or unknowingly, just want to be appreciated, aside from wanting to be correct. Being self-righteous actually is an obnoxious way, the opposite of passive-aggressiveness, to gain sense of superiority over another person.
I don't think there's a need to flaunt and be self-righteous at all - and when I mean being self-righteous, I mean the pompous show of certainty one feels when they know they are right. Suppose one is right when it comes to a subject - how is being self-righteous ever going to teach another person to acknowledge the truth? Isn't that the purpose of talking? Because it's contradicting when someone apparently wants to help another person learn something but transfers that information in a form, in a vibe, that isn't understanding, receptive, and self-deprecating - knowing that one has been in the position of being wrong/naive before is the reason why one should be more gentle in their tutelage.
On the other hand, appreciation is something everyone should try to do when a tutor is being receptive, understanding, and self-deprecating.
However, no one should place the desire to be rightfully appreciated above the need to be receptive and understanding of another person's abilities. In fact, the apparently inherent desire to feel appreciated in some way, shape, or from is actually detrimental to one's goal - but it's a struggle we all face (why? because the desire to feel appreciated shouldn't drive one's actions). The first priority of a teacher of anything is that the knowledge, virtue, fact, etc. they are trying to convey is transferred in a respectful, understanding, and firm yet self-deprecating way.
Or else that teacher comes out as a self-righteous jerk who doesn't seem to deserve any sympathy (even though the jerk really does) when he or she fails at the knowledge, virtue, truth, etc that he or she self-righteously proclaimed in the first place.
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