“What’s the point of doing anything worthwhile if nobody’s watching?"
‘Narcissism’ is a word that I have encountered often in the last few years. People who study such matters describe our (Western) culture as being narcissistic.
Apparently we have become a narcissistic culture because our focus has concentrated on the self to the exclusion of “the greater goodâ€.
When I examine the list of characteristics detailed in “Narcissismâ€: a grandiose self, foolish fantasies, craving fame, rage combined with bluff and bluster, shallowness, etc. I find that, of course, this is modern wo/man. it.stlawu.edu/~jwhorr32/page8.html
The media is blamed/credited with having a large hand in creating this narcissistic culture. I suspect McLuhan is being shown to be more and more prescient every day; the “Media is the Messageâ€.
I definitely agree to some extent, I think there is a great number of people who are shallow and media ridden humans, whether or not this type of person is typical is debatable but I’d agree that he/she probably is. I think a key philosophy here is that of Aristotle, “The good is something personal and almost inseparable from it’s possessor.†(The Nichomachean Ethics Bk I Ch V) when he rejected things such as honour as leading to happiness as they rely on other people to confer them and aren’t therefore self-sufficient (which negates them from being ‘The Good’). I see anything related to narcissism as being in the same boat, though others would disagree I’m sure.
ummm, coberst, that was “the medium is the massage.” Take it from an old hippie.
A culture that is all about self? I don’t know. It seems more of a culture all about acting. If there is any ‘self’, it is hidden under layers of facade. No self respecting self sells themselves on reality TV, and yet the list of paper people seems endless. A mature culture is about self, but not in the show-off way we see today.
Well, I can see how one can make the case that the western culture, specifically the American culture, as being narcissistic. Many times in the American society we do see the attitude that nothing should be done unless there is some kind of personal gain to had from it. You do often see those who do something for the praise and congratulations that others give to you. This comes from the idea that the worth of a thing is determined by others and does not come from within the thing. Although, you certainly can see many examples of people who will do something without any kind of personal gain. It isn’t uncommon now to see films, the movie “Friday Night Lights” comes to mind, where a theme of personal acceptance over outside glory is promoted.
It is definitely a part of western culture, but it isn’t the sole aspect of society. Now, whether it’s the rule as opposed to the exception, I don’t know and can be left for another debate.
What you call self-interest is really ignorance. This is important, watch closely,
Actions that benefit the group/society almost always also benefit the individual who commits them.
Thus, a person who is completely “self-interested” (one who only does actions that directly benefit himself), will be worse off than one that acts for the benefit of others also.
Narcissism is an inability to understand the indirect benefits that come from actions directed towards other people.
There is no true act of altruism (I think that’s the word).
I think you have hit the nail on the head. A person acting rationally is good for both the community and the individual.
The problem is that we have a natural tendency to act selfishly and we must exercise control over that egocentric tendency for our individual good and the good of the community. However, we cannot control that of which we are not conscious.
