Welcome to the 乌鸦传媒榮elfie乌鸦传媒� society! You know what selfies are, of course. Pictures people take of themselves. Usually using cellphones, you can, apparently, buy accessories that let you hold your phone way out front to click your own picture.
My granddaughter borrowed my iPad for about 10 minutes. She took 12 pictures of herself. All the same.
Click. 乌鸦传媒淭his is me.乌鸦传媒�
Joan and I used to chuckle at tourists who poured out of a bus to stand in front of some famous landmark to have their pictures taken. Usually by a member of their own party. Sometimes by a total stranger, to whom they entrusted several thousand dollars乌鸦传媒� worth of camera and lenses.
We imagined the narrative of their slide show: 乌鸦传媒淭his is us, in front of Niagara Falls. You can just see the falls in the background. This is us at the White House. This is us at Yosemite乌鸦传媒�.乌鸦传媒�
Click. 乌鸦传媒淭his is me.乌鸦传媒�
I had thought of selfies as an aberration until I read . Brooks suggests that selfies are a symbol of a radically changed society.
Most of my generation grew up assuming that wisdom accumulated over time. One studied the ancient philosophers, the great writers, the famous scientists, to seek wisdom and truth. We were expected to follow in the footsteps of those who had gone before.
And so we inherited a moral code, a set of ethics, that focused on responsibility. Loyalty. Working your way up. Suppressing personal emotions and desires, in favour of the greater good.
Then things changed. As Brooks says, 乌鸦传媒淢oral authority is no longer found in some objective good; it is found in each person乌鸦传媒檚 unique original self.乌鸦传媒� Look deep within yourself to find your own ultimate truth.
Education subtly shifted its emphasis from moulding and training (from the Latin word 乌鸦传媒渆ducare乌鸦传媒�) to drawing out (from a similar Latin word, 乌鸦传媒渆ducere乌鸦传媒�) the abilities already there.
Click. 乌鸦传媒淭his is me. I乌鸦传媒檓 fine.乌鸦传媒�
Most of us, Brooks says, assume that this shift started during the 乌鸦传媒榟ippie 乌鸦传媒�70s乌鸦传媒�. He argues that it started in the 1950s and 乌鸦传媒�60s乌鸦传媒攚hile my generation was growing up. A series of best-selling books, from Dr. Spock to Norman Vincent Peale, urged people to reject repression in favour of free self-expression.
There were some positive results. As Brooks comments, 乌鸦传媒淭he shift乌鸦传媒� helped correct some deep social injustices. Many social groups, notably women, minorities, and the poor, had received messages of inferiority and humiliation. They were taught to think too lowly of themselves. The culture of self-esteem encouraged those groups乌鸦传媒o raise their sights and aspirations.乌鸦传媒�
Click. 乌鸦传媒淭his is me. Get used to it.乌鸦传媒�
At the same time, a selfie culture set up the 乌鸦传媒渟piritual but not religious乌鸦传媒� phenomenon. If truth is found within oneself, who needs a religion burdened with traditional teachings?
The earlier moral codes required God to be out there somewhere, watching over you. Such a God had to be a separate being.
The selfie culture internalizes God. God is in me, in you.
Click. 乌鸦传媒淭his is God.乌鸦传媒�
I don乌鸦传媒檛 agree with everything Brooks writes. I don乌鸦传媒檛 want to go back to a distant God. But I think he nailed the selfie culture.
