Welcome to the 91裸聊视频榮elfie91裸聊视频� 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. 91裸聊视频淭his is me.91裸聊视频�
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 dollars91裸聊视频� worth of camera and lenses.
We imagined the narrative of their slide show: 91裸聊视频淭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 Yosemite91裸聊视频�.91裸聊视频�
Click. 91裸聊视频淭his is me.91裸聊视频�
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, 91裸聊视频淢oral authority is no longer found in some objective good; it is found in each person91裸聊视频檚 unique original self.91裸聊视频� Look deep within yourself to find your own ultimate truth.
Education subtly shifted its emphasis from moulding and training (from the Latin word 91裸聊视频渆ducare91裸聊视频�) to drawing out (from a similar Latin word, 91裸聊视频渆ducere91裸聊视频�) the abilities already there.
Click. 91裸聊视频淭his is me. I91裸聊视频檓 fine.91裸聊视频�
Most of us, Brooks says, assume that this shift started during the 91裸聊视频榟ippie 91裸聊视频�70s91裸聊视频�. He argues that it started in the 1950s and 91裸聊视频�60s91裸聊视频攚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, 91裸聊视频淭he shift91裸聊视频� 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 groups91裸聊视频o raise their sights and aspirations.91裸聊视频�
Click. 91裸聊视频淭his is me. Get used to it.91裸聊视频�
At the same time, a selfie culture set up the 91裸聊视频渟piritual but not religious91裸聊视频� 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. 91裸聊视频淭his is God.91裸聊视频�
I don91裸聊视频檛 agree with everything Brooks writes. I don91裸聊视频檛 want to go back to a distant God. But I think he nailed the selfie culture.
