Do you notice a shift in humanity towards more and more "Me" ? Are we embracing true pluralism, meaning we actually genuinely care about our fellow man, or are we more and more supporting our own echo chamber only? If you are a die hard democrat, no worries, MSNBC has you covered. You can get self confirmation all day, every day. If you are a die hard republican, no worries, FOX has got you covered. You can get self confirmation all day, every day. If you think they're all nuts and don't see what's "really" going on, then Drudge Report and Alex Jones can tell you how you're the smartest around all day. How many times have you seen someone on Facebook say "...and if you don't agree with this, you might as well just remove yourself from my list already and save me the work!" People are proudly proclaiming "you're either with me on this view or remove yourself from my eLife" . So if technology and comfort of living keeps increasing where we are less and less dependent on others for actual survival, are we growing further and further apart? Are most of us only interested in self advancement and growing their individualism further? Is that even wrong or simply inevitable?
Two words: social media. If technology continues to accelerate at the rate it has been eventually singularity will be the norm...humans and the technology we create will envelope us, just not in the way most think. All created to cause further divides and more segregation clan style behavior Typical primitive clan behavior.
Ego is at an all time high for sure, it makes me sick. I miss the 90's when everyone was full of angst, sarcasm and self hate....god I miss it haha.
You should read some of Peter Hitchens' stuff. I can't stand his views on modern society, but he's very anti-80's shift toward self-preservation and the western obsession with happiness and the need to feel "good". He's pretty right wing but he seems to be someone conducting the anti-individualism train.
Totally feeling this thread, its been on my mind lately. Everyone feels like their respective opinion is correct. Their not wrong, everyone else is. They blame and expect things to change without any actual effort. I know, I teach martial arts to all ages for a living. I feel like Im making a difference teaching todays youth discipline and critical thinking.
Martial arts: A good way for real reality checks to be taught. You zig when you should zig, you zag when you should zag. If you Zig where you should Zag, lights go out.
I think what all of this stems from is the genetic drive we all possess, at least to some degree, the drive to compete. Prior to the Neolithic Revolution it was our species only means of ensuring its genetics survival. In fact every single organism we have observed thus far, exhibits this trait for the very same reason. It never went away with humanity, it evolved with us. As the complexity of the human consciousness grows, so does our methods of competing. I believe we are at the beginning of another turning point. I see humanity as if it were in its preteen stage, where everyone thinks they know everything, but pretty much everyone knows nothing. The means of competition become more about displays of what that individual knows, mistaking that for intellect. Its 'the way' right now to show that you know whats best, as a means of one upping the competition. The only thing that can suppress the antiquated competitive function, is our increasingly complex sentience. Its something that should be taught, as a part of how we are physically programmed this way and why its important to regulate, but not suppress entirely. The drive to compete is not only the cause of this chaos, but also the reason for many beneficial advancements in understanding and interacting with our reality.
This shit is killing me lately. I don't consider myself a particularly intelligent person. I'm not an expert in anything really, and I have a few people that school me regularly on politics and economics. But man, one thing that seems pretty certain to me. People, by and large, don't know SHIT. Yes, myself included. I want to move out into the forest, and not see another human being again, ever. The way I'm feeling now, I'd be cool with that. Fuck people, just in general.
I feel technology has brought more people together who thought they were separate and isolated in this insane world we live in than it has isolated individuals. Look at forums and websites. Like postsecret. A simple website where these people who had these secrets that ate away at their souls finally reveal their secrets to some guy on the Internet to find that Holy shit other people are just like me. Facebook. Well that's a complicated story. Most Facebook posts are narcissistic. Facebook is very "me" oriented and isn't so much about others. Although it can be depending on how it's used.
Sartre said "Hell is other people." With all the moving I've done in life full of switching cultures and leaving friends, I think it's safe to say that people are the best and worst thing that can happen to a person. If you are surrounded by bad people, whether bc of their intellect, behavior, or whatever else, then they will be the worst thing in your life. Should you however be fortunate enough to have sane, kind, and decent friends/family, then they are the best thing in your life. I think this is mirrored in the well known saying about women: "Can't live with them, can't live without them." I always took that to mean, "You need a good woman in your life, but a bad woman is the worst thing that will happen to you."
You seem to care to much about the world around you. Stop giving a fuck and you will notice the world becomes easier.
To answer whether individualism is good or bad would require 1000 pages per opinion to even start scratching the surface. The greatest minds to ever exist have pined over it with people like Ralph waldo emmerson, henry David thoughrough and even Einstein believing that it is extremely positive, meanwhile you have people like Mao tse tung, Hitler, pol pot and every sjw saying it's evil. Proof is in the puddin.