Underestimation is associated with contempt and dismissal.
Underestimation is a term that is not part of the dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) , but is often used in relation to underestimating . This verb refers to estimating someone or something below its value .
Underestimation, therefore, can be related to dismissal (discarding, denying) and contempt (low appreciation or low esteem ). When someone underestimates, they consider a living being or object to have a lower value than it actually has.
Examples of underestimation
Let's say a tennis player ranked third in the world has to face another player ranked two hundred places behind him. The higher ranked player goes onto the court unconcerned and convinced that his opponent has no chance of beating him. So he plays unfocused and doesn't try hard. Ultimately, this underestimation ends up harming him and the opponent who was supposedly at a disadvantage wins.
Another example that helps to understand the concept of underestimation occurs with the attitude of certain rulers who take unpopular measures, thinking that the people who gave them their trust and votes at one time will continue to do so forever. However, people can realize the deception and end up punishing the person they had elected.
An exaggerated esteem
The opposite of underestimation is overestimation , which is giving more value to something or someone that, in reality, has none. A writer who sells thousands of books because of his publisher's marketing efforts and not because of his talent, for example, may find himself overrated within the book industry.
This phenomenon is common in the entertainment world, where famous people are often idealized instead of being appreciated for their true achievements and taking into account their necessary and undeniable mistakes.
Underestimation of animals is common.
Underestimation of animals
While it is not correct to generalize, one of the most common targets of underestimation is the animal kingdom , or at least all non-human species of animals. Of course, this feeling is not always expressed explicitly, but it can be seen in many of the relationships we tend to have with them. The most obvious is exploitation, which has been taking place for centuries, and which consists of forcing them to carry out a series of forced labors, making use of violence to control them, and depriving them of their freedom throughout their lives.
What is behind such an imposition if not underestimation? No one would put a saddle on another person's back and force them to act as a means of transport; it would be unethical. However, there is no moral issue or law against doing the same to a horse. But there are many more examples of justified animal abuse, ranging from breeding in slaughterhouses to bullfighting. Animals are underestimated, considered inferior, and condemned to a life of suffering and torture unimaginable for a human being.
People as victims
Far from this series of cruel acts, as graphic as they are ignored, lies the set of ideologies that encompass the underestimation of various social strata, not to mention the contempt for the female gender. The media provide a steady flow of messages of rejection and contempt towards many groups of people who do not conform to certain norms decided by a few, in order to gain control over society.
Underestimation is present in our lives , whether we are aware of it or not, whether we are direct or indirect participants in this twisted process. To sustain a system, a hierarchy is necessary, but human beings seem to conceive this concept based on the superiority or inferiority of individuals, instead of relying on their differences to enrich the structure.