It is strange that this word has been coming up overly frequently during the past couple weeks. At first, I wasn’t sure of the exact definition of narcissism, so after a discussion that had randomly occurred with friends at my house, I decided to look into it.
nar-cis-sism
-noun
1. Inordinate fascination with oneself; excessive self-love; vanity.
2. Psychoanalysis. erotic gratification derived from admiration of one’s own physical or mental attributes, being a normal condition at the infantile level of personal development.
What does that mean, exactly? If we are to be living in, or we are a narcissistic generation, by definition, are we all adults that are not able to pass the “infantile level of personal development”?
Why do some view it as individualism? Is that just a glorified word for narcissism? What is individualism and what makes an individual? The clothes you wear; the music you listen to; the hairstyle you sport; the social network profile you create; they way you decorate your bedroom, bathroom, living room, kitchen… house; your preference of colour, smell, taste; the beer/wine/spirit you drink; the restaurant you frequent; the cellphone you use; the background on your desktop, your avatar in WOW…
If our generation is that of a narcissistic population, what will the next generation entail? Being a teacher means that I will have an impact on certain individuals’ lives in shaping their personal growth. I’m pretty sure that being a narcissist is not a very positive quality in a person, so how do I teach someone to be an individual, and not a narcissist? Tough call. I believe it starts with inspiring individualism not by what you’re making of yourself, but by what you’re making of your time towards the betterment of the quality of life around you.
Our class watched a video today that very much suited my little questionnaire I’ve commenced here. One of the main points I took from it is that the people of this generation (and recent generations) are forming their own visions of themselves based through what they have seen in the media. This could not make more sense to me. It’s re-cognition, and recognition. Almost like a big, big game of monkey see, monkey do, and YouTube is a perfect example. Funny enough, that the video we watched today was on YouTube. This screams to me that society now can’t live with it, but can’t live without it. It has unlimited advantages and disadvantages to education… It is an infinite space of knowledge. What we decide to do with that knowledge is, unbelievably, up to us.
More thoughts to follow.
