SOCIAL MEDIA INDUSTRY DRIVEN BY NARCISSISM

WE ARE RAISING A GENERATION

OF DELUDED NARCISSISTS, ANALYSIS

www.foxnews.com - A new analysis of the American Freshman Survey, which has accumulated data for the past 47 years from 9 million young adults, reveals that college students are more likely than ever to call themselves gifted and driven to succeed, even though their test scores and time spent studying are decreasing. Psychologist Jean Twenge, the lead author of the analysis, is also the author of a study showing that the tendency toward narcissism in students is up 30 percent in the last thirty-odd years. 
This data is not unexpected.  I have been writing a great deal over the past few years about the toxic psychological impact of media and technology on children, adolescents and young adults, particularly as it regards turning them into faux celebrities. On Facebook, young people can fool themselves into thinking they have hundreds or thousands of “friends.”

Youngster can delete unflattering comments and block anyone who disagrees with them or pokes holes in their inflated self-esteem. They can choose to show the world only flattering, sexy or funny photographs of themselves, and publicly connect to movie stars and professional athletes and musicians they “like.” Using Twitter, young people can pretend they are worth “following,” as though they have real-life fans, when all that is really happening is the mutual fanning of false love and false fame. 
Using computer games, young people can pretend they are Olympians, Formula 1 drivers, rock stars or sharpshooters. On MTV they can see lives just like theirs portrayed on reality TV shows fueled by such incredible self-involvement and self-love that any of the “real-life” characters should really be in psychotherapy to have any chance at anything like a normal life. These are the psychological drugs of the 21st Century and they are getting our sons and daughters very sick, indeed.

False pride can never be sustained. The bubble of narcissism is always at risk of bursting.  That’s why young people are higher on drugs than ever, drunker than ever, smoking more, tattooed more, pierced more and having more and more and more sex, earlier and earlier and earlier, raising babies before they can do it well, because it makes them feel special, for a while. They’re doing anything to distract themselves from the fact that they feel empty inside and unworthy. Distractions, however, are temporary, and the truth is eternal. Watch for an epidemic of depression and suicidality, not to mention homicidality, as the real self-loathing and hatred of others that lies beneath all this narcissism rises to the surface, explains the author of the article, Dr. Keith Ablow, psychiatrist and member of Fox News' "Medical A-Team". We should try to enlight young people's heart in order to combat this greatest epidemic.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US? 

Narcissism is a material condition (a psychological illness) wherein one suffers from: 1) a grandiose sense of self-importance, 2) a preoccupation with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, and ideal love, 3) a belief that he is special and unique and can only be understood by, or should associate with, other special or high-status people, 4) a requirement for excessive admiration and worship, 5) a sense of entitlement - unreasonable expectations of especially favorable treatment or automatic compliance with his expectations, 6) a despotic mentality, repressing and exploiting others, 7) a lack of empathy, unwilling to recognize or identify with the feelings or needs of others, 8) envy of others, also believing that others are envious of him, 9) an arrogant or haughty attitude.

Śrīla Bhakti Gaurava Narasingha Maharaja :
Anuvrtti Commentary of "Prakrta-rasa Sata-dusani"
by Sri Srimad Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Prabhupada
Sri Narasingha Chaitanya Ashram
Jun 22 2011 - Krishna Talk 125.
http://gosai.com/writings/prakrta-rasa-sata-dusani-part-1

Published by dasavatara das - "Vedic Views on World News"
http://www.vedicviews-worldnews.blogspot.com.ar/