The culture of ego

What do the following have in common: the reality show contestant desperate for fame; the politician and manager wishing to impose their "vision" onto society or business; the dead tree columnist who thinks his opinion is worth reading; the stock market pundit who uses his "judgment"; and - yes - the blogger who thinks he has something to say?
The answer's two-fold. First, they are all characteristic types of our age. Second, all represent in different ways the dominance of individual egos, the belief that one's self deserves, variously, love, popularity, power, acclaim and respect.
This is unhealthy in the most literal sense. Mental heath problems are common, in part because egotistical impulses are so often thwarted;  the successful find fame and power are false goods, whilst the unsuccessful feel frustrated and anxious.
But there are alternatives. I offer these not so much as advice (hey, who am I to do so?) as to throw into relief the dominance of ego.
1. People matter not because they are unique, precious individuals, but insofar as they are bearers of tradition and social relations. What makes this blog interesting - insofar as it is - is not that it's written by me, but that it's written by someone from a working class(ish) background who was educated in liberal/Marxist/economic traditions.
2. Remember all that Hayek said about limited knowledge, and that Kahneman and Tversky said about cognitive biases. It doesn't just apply to other people. It's true of us too.
3. Ask not how you can change the world, but how the world can change you. Dar Williams - who gave this blog its title - puts it better than anyone here.

Comments

[dearieme]

"People matter not because ...": matter to whom, old fruit?

[aje]

Chris, to what extent do you think that the existence of tacit knowledge reduces our ability to rely on objective decision-making, increases the necessity to use "gut instinct" and experience, thus making "judgment" important.

In other words, how much of your argument is that decision-making based on judgment is irrelevant (or actually damaging), versus accurate judgment is like picking stocks: it's possible but if you look ex ante at the probability of success you're best off not using it.

[Matt Munro]

The term "ego" gets abused - it actually means "the desire for social acceptance" and can be easily met just by having family/friends/a job/belonging to a club or any number of fairly mundane social activities.
You are talking about self esteem which is quite different. Festinger's social comparison theory is one possible explaination of the increasing desire for fame for it's own stake, as our reference points in the media age are both more diverse and more unacheivable than ever

[Katherine]

How about the answer being three-fold - they are all, mostly, men.

[אומנויות לחימה]

Hmm this is the one in which everyone wil maintain depends on the status or their behaviour.This ego generates between them depends on the situation. This is good to an extent.If it exceeds, It leads to spoiling the relations.