by quaesitor
It’s easy to forget the psychobabble jargon that is now so part of everyday parlance had its origins in serious academic discourse. It’s pretty obvious when you stop to think about it, because all terms, metaphors and concepts must have their origins somewhere. It only takes a few decades or even years before what starts confined to the lecture room ends up on the street (whether the discipline be philosophy, theology, or psychology). What is scary is how many of the psychological assumptions that we take for granted today are built on such flimsy foundations. That is the main thrust of the first half of Glynn Harrison‘s important new book, The Big Ego Trip.
In summary, the situation that modern western culture finds itself in is the result of decades of a rather devastating experiment:
We overdosed on self-admiration, and, as a result, the self-esteem movement gained a powerful foothold in the Western mind, and reshaped secular and Christian cultures alike. (p18)
If low self-esteem is people’s basic problem, then the solution is obvious:
[Read the rest here]
Low self-esteem came to be seen as everybody’s problem and then linked with a wide range of psychological and social issues. And so… as a result, ‘boosterism’ was born. If low self-esteem formed in early life is the problem, then boosting self-esteem must be the solution. Thus the idea was born that everybody, everywhere, will benefit from a liberal dose of self-admiration. (p37)
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