A major
part of being a human is knowing how special you are. Basically since birth,
mothers, fathers and various other extended relatives are constantly telling
you how unique you are. Growing up, we learn that there are separate levels to
life, and we are at the top.
Plants and
animals are below us, since they cannot make decisions as we can. They cannot
speak and interact with others. And their consciousness is nonexistent compared
to the intelligence that we humans posses.
Bataille
even writes, “…I know what the object I have made is; I can make another one
like it, but I would not be able to make another living being like me in the
way that a watchmaker makes a watch…” (30). This quote further shows how
individuals think about themselves. Not only do we think this about our
precious humanity, but also society encourages us to love ourselves.
Reality TV is the objectification
of human egotism. But it’s not just reality TV. It’s Facebook, and how many
likes you get on your photos, or on a status. It’s looking through YOUR tagged
photos and making sure that those photos make you look like your having more
fun than everyone else.
We spend our lives thinking that we
are the one in a million that will do whatever it is we want to do. But that
only happens one in a million times. This day in age, people are unable to see
flaws within themselves. If they don’t get an A on a paper, it’s the teacher’s
fault, not theirs. We are constantly finding excuses to make us feel like we
are perfect. We are always the victims; someone else is always at fault.
This brings me back to my first
point: the difference between humans and animals. Animals supposedly can’t
reason properly, and they base their decisions on instinct rather than emotion.
However, are we any better than animals as we tell ourselves daily? We, too,
have the instinct to be the best. We are competitive. We reason based on what
makes us feel best, what makes us feel most important. Our emotions, decisions
and reason are all centered on us, feeding into our egos. Animals base these
things around themselves too, but in a way of survival. We do it because of our
pride.
Humans are brought into this life
thinking they will make a great difference in the world. Humans leave the world
probably thinking that they did. No matter who you are, if you are a human, everything
you strive for revolves around YOU. The human ego is very powerful, and
something that other organisms are unable to attain.
I find your opinion interesting. I would look at human egotism in a different way. Though I do agree that we are instinctively egotistical, I also think that, for the most part, we feel relatively insignificant. You say, in your conclusion, that "humans are brought into this life thinking they will make a great difference in the world. Humans leave the world probably thinking that they did." This is where I would disagree. I believe that, at this day and age, there is an underwhelming drive to be just sufficient. Through modern technology life is made easier. Why change the world and struggle when you can simply cost by? I also think that for the most part those who truly accomplish change, don't ever leave this life feeling like they did enough.
ReplyDeleteI think the beautiful thing about success is that it is mostly detached from egotism. It seems that those who promote change do so simply because it was the "right" thing to do. Those who are truly committed to change also recognize that we may never get "there". As humans we have the capacity to redirect nature's course, maybe we already have, but in order to be truly successful, we must also recognize that against the universe we are so small. This relative insignificance is the most important realization. I believe that those who truly create change are relatively selfless.
When it comes to everyone thinking they will make a "difference" in the world, in terms of ego, I see it less as having a meaningful social or political impact and more as "making your mark", having your "fifteen minutes of fame". People's egos drive them to make many of the decisions in their lives, many of which involve social interactions with others, the strive to be "the best" for many doesn't have anything to do with doing what's "right" or changing the world. In most of these cases success equates to fame.
ReplyDeleteI think reality television is an excellent example of this cut-throat competition to get into the spotlight. People are literally turning themselves into brands to get noticed. What does this say about how we view ourselves in comparison to material wealth? How we value the very idea of "self"?
Many famous and successful people in our society today were able to achieve that level of success because they held on to the attitude that they were the best at what they did. A few examples might be Steve Jobs, Kanye West, Ayn Rand, and Alfred Hitchcock--all known for being incredibly full of themselves.
As Thomas Hobbes said:
"Such is the nature of men, that howsoever they may acknowledge many others to be more witty, or more eloquent, or more learned; yet they will hardly believe there be many so wise as themselves."
I agree with your point that in newer generations as we are born we are conditioned by new aged parenting to believe that we are special and unique and that nothing can stop us from greatness. This results in high self-esteem but filters our sense of reality. Our egos have become larger than life to the point that we think that nothing can stop us. Our egos need to be polished and exercised like a muscle. Reality shows present people who are clearly inferior in intelligence and we watch it to simply make us feel smarter thus polishing our ego further. The same can be said with creating a popular image on yourself on social media such as posting pictures that give us an illusion that we are much more interesting than we actually are. We filter what we want the world to see ourselves and it becomes a “greatest hits” of our life’s timeline, which again polishes our egos when we look at it. This inflation of our egos has indeed made us blind to our own faults and has turned us into stubborn beings that are incapable of being in the wrong.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the notion that human ego is a subsequent product of human consciousness. I think the ego derives mainly from our ability to process ourselves and one another, where we can compare and contrast and create a sense of the individual as a result of our conscious dialect (instead of thinking of ourself, we thinking of ourselves)(queue Ayn Rand and the collective "I"). Anyway, I think that instead of thinking of humans striving to make a difference in their life as a result of this ego, I think it is also a good idea to think of this idea of "leaving your mark" as a result of the exponential growth of the human species, both in numbers but also in our capabilities and how they continue to grow as humans become increasingly more and more intelligible. The human ego in inherent--humans on the individual scale naturally want to boast themselves because we are programmed to strive and excel (which is what sets us apart from other species and has allowed us to become the high-level conscious beings we are, as opposed to other species like the Neanderthals that no longer exist).
ReplyDelete