triumphalism

noun

a) The attitude or belief that a particular doctrine, culture, or social system, particularly a religious or political one, is superior and that it will or should triumph over all others.

But not only did Soviet triumphalism eventually provoke the Reaganite reaction in the United States, but, Kissinger suggests, it produced the overextension of Soviet resources that led directly to economic and ultimately political collapse.

b) Excessive expression or demonstration of glee at the defeat or failure of a rival; brazen gloating.

A better understanding of science should lead not to triumphalism but to the kind of humility recently expressed by Nobel Prize-winning geneticist Francois Jacob in Of Flies, Mice and Men: "Science cannot answer all questions. . . . It can, however, give some indications, exclude certain hypotheses. Engaging in the pursuit of science may help us make fewer mistakes.”

See Also: triumphalist