Can someone please tell me who I am...

Movements in society often follow a familiar trajectory of establishment-revolution-counter revolution. The logic is that the establishment rules for a period of time until others, often the poor, weak and disenfranchised, rise up to overthrow the immoral regime.

Often the revolution is too extreme, attracting the tyrants that the people sought to rid themselves of. It is often the counter-revolution that moves society back into line and towards what will become the new establishment.

The psychology of the individual can often work in a similar manner. A person behaves in a certain way largely due to social norms and pressures. In time they realise the error of their ways and revolt, becoming social revolutionaries. Having seen the light, they desist from their errant ways. In time, however, they come to realise that they have really missed the whole point of what was happening.

Let me furnish you with a contemporary case study.

We are living in a time where people are not only obsessed with notifying us ‘textfully’ where they are and what they are doing, but have also moved towards photographing and even video-recording our lives in a feeble attempt to turn them into a viral reality show.

Why do we do this?

Largely because this is the current established practice of society. We facebook, twitter, blog, selfie and GoPro because that is how we stay current or, to be more specific, allow others to stay current with us. − Stage 1.

Stage 2 − the revolution. This is when we finally realise what a bunch of narcissists we’ve become, obsessed with sharing our lives and the very notion of “look at me” and “listen to me”. We’re arrogant enough to believe that others care what we eat, watch or even what our commute to the city feels like. To be fair, most people haven’t reached this stage. Once people become enlightened to their latent, or maybe not so latent, narcissism, they tend to refrain from such public displays of private affairs.

Stage 3 − the counter-revolution. This is when we finally realise that it was never narcissism in the first place. Narcissism necessitates a sense of pure arrogance, importance and grandiosity. Most people are the exact opposite; we lack any semblance of self-esteem and confidence. We come to realise that the reason we try so desperately to get the attention of others isn’t because we think we are great, but rather because we feel completely insignificant.

Perhaps if someone notices us, we can find out who we are.

“There is nothing new under the sun.” The desperation for public approval in an attempt to quieten personal disapproval is nothing new. What has changed is that there are more ways, mediums and people that need attracting and whose approval we are seeking.

Apparently, desperate times call for desperate measures. Technology is being fuelled by desperation, not for connection, but for recognition.