Here is a heartfelt letter to the young and the self-absorbed. For some reason, being this way isn't shamed upon anymore. The instantaneous requests done with our fingertips is more than enough to know, or not to know. The fast replies are more than enough to understand, or not. We budget our time, schedule our days, the clock goes on and never stops - so we don't either.
Not the young and the self-absorbed, no. There's something more to life than just stopping for things that won't matter in the future. And this culture that we have created, the type of culture that somehow enables us to control our future; all of the generations behind us have made their mistakes, why would we do the same? What's so wrong about being so self-absorbed? One psychological theory explains the phenomena of reaching self-transcendence from two different perspectives; becoming self-absorbed, and not becoming self-absorbed. And so, as a silent observer of society, I'm here to say to say that for our generation, the first option is what works best.
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs is a great example of my generation's way of thinking. This chart proposes a really simple way of living and reaching enlightenment; do what you need to do, live for yourself, and you'll be fine. Satisfying our needs seems to be what makes my generation happy. So, in Maslow's terms, let's see what he means:
If a person starts from the bottom and works his or her way up to the top of the chart, that person is on a great path to self-actualization. Likewise, if people do not fulfill their needs, then they will never reach self-actualization. With the implementation of technology into our quotidian lives, this is without a doubt what my generation prefers.
Self-serving ourselves is a need when we find that we can have anything we want whenever we want - and somehow, make that into a need. Our wants slowly start to morph into needs to the point where we can no longer differentiate between the two and self-absorption becomes second nature. All in all, the psychology behind it is very simple- it's just inevitable. But that doesn't mean that it's bad. Let's embrace it. Maslow was right after all.
