I am moving this post up because it got no comments and I really want to know: what do you think goes into condescension? It is a power move, but (a) do you think it is undertaken to cover insecurity or (b) just for the fun of putting someone down?
Mostimportantly, do you think condescenders really believe they will succeed in snowing their victims? I have difficulty believing they could believe it. But do they believe they will succeed?
Axé.
coldhearted scientist وداد 
Ah, probably a bit of both, depending on who is doing it, but doesn’t it all have its roots in (a)? O sea–a person who has come to think that it’s fun to exert dominance by attempting to make others feel small is a person who gets some form of uplift from doing so, and I don’t know anyone like that who is not at some level very scared.
And I would say yes, probably so, because they sometimes do succeed. Some people allow them to. The ones who don’t write posts like this one, because it is indeed hard to believe that this is a viable way of being.
I get condescended to a lot and the same people tell me I am intimidating.