This is The Nooner, a (very short) daily newsletter slash podcast that has its very own section within Dispatches from Inner Space.
To see the first post, which doubles as an explainer, click here.
Also a quick reminder that you can listen to the podcast version of each post wherever you listen to podcasts.
Narcissism is trending
Have you noticed how much people seem to love to accuse other people of being narcissists, lately? Do you wonder if maybe it has something to do with how our entire culture is built on a gospel of narcissism?
I don’t know if people have accused me of this pseudo-psychosis, but I’m quite sure I’m guilty of it. Just like, you know, pretty much everyone.
I recently went through some boxes of stuff in storage, and came across an old college essay, with the professor’s notes in the margin. At the end, he’d left a longer note, which started with some general praise for my writing (damn straight), before gently introducing a point of criticism, “that you may not like.”
He went on to say that there was perhaps too much self-regard in my writing, evidenced by how often I used the word “I.” Were there, he wondered, other perspectives I could consider?
Then he said something about how this sort of...well, let’s go ahead and call it narcissism, although that’s not the word he used — he said that it was developmentally normal for someone my age, but, you know, try growing up.
Fifteen some odd years later, I really hope I have grown up a bit, despite how much further I certainly have to go.
The takeaway, though, is that narcissism is the mark of immaturity. Of course it is! Have you ever met a baby? Baby’s don’t give one single solitary damn about what you want or need. They only ever care about themselves, the selfish little pricks.
But then, little by little, one painstaking day at a time, and by the tireless efforts of not-entirely-unselfish parents, those little bundles of narcissism blossom into grownups who hopefully understand that the entire universe does not revolve around them.
Which brings me to The Greatest Showman.
OK look, I haven’t seen it. All I know is that I really hated the song that everyone loved so much.
“This is me!”
As I get older and more crotchety, it starts to seem like most pop culture revolves around a central dogma of narcissism. As though the highest and holiest expression is self-expression.
And so, to those caught up in this unending orgy of self-regard, I would like to pass along the gentle note my teacher gave me when I needed to hear it most.
Are there, perhaps, other perspectives you could consider?
Click at least one of these or else…
…you’ll never discover pitted fruit the size of a house and make friends with a zany troupe of giant bugs.
Can we maybe stop the endless orgy of self-love?