Thursday, October 16th, 2008

Media Credit: Janet Hamlin/AP

We go to college to further our education, but in reality we come out with so much more. Although, according to an Associated Press article, all we really come out with is an “I’m so special” attitude that ends up only hurting us in the long run.

A study called the Narcissistic Personality Inventory evaluated thousands of college students between 1982 and 2006. The higher the score in the NPI, the more narcissistic a person is considered. According to the study, by 2006 the average test scores increased by 30 percent, which brings up the question, are we too self-centered?

There is no doubt that since the beginning of time narcissists have existed, but now they are increasing in numbers. The explanation for this can be found everywhere, especially in popular entertainment, such as MTV’s Sweet Sixteen, CBS’s Survivor and Fox’s American Idol.

While all these shows may attract different audiences, they share one thing in common: they are all about people who feel they are entitled to something, whether it be a massive party and a new car, a prize of $1 million or a music career.

However, this feeling of entitlement is not something we are born with like hair or eye color. It stems from those who raise us and those who we surround ourselves with. After all, if we are told something over and over again, it will eventually be engrained into our minds and become second nature. Continue Reading »

The information age has spawned a great asset to society: the Internet. Anyone’s thoughts are readily available to you at any time. Case in point, whether you’re reading this piece in The Triangle or on a blog, my thoughts were not that hard to come by. But when does all of this information become too much? When do too many thoughts and opinions begin to greatly influence or even corrupt our decision-making? Well, it depends on what kind of person you are. I’d like to think of myself as an independent-minded, opinionated and well-informed individual, but many of my peers seem either to hide their opinions or have none at all. In other words, they seem as if they, to put it bluntly, don’t think. Not to say that they don’t have anything rattling around up there, but their lives and their problems seem to be their only concern. When it comes to large issues that seem like they scream to be thought about and analyzed, they don’t bother. Particularly about things going on in our society right now, such as the presidential race, the economic predicament we’ve found ourselves in and other social issues that will or already are having an effect on the general populous. But, while everyone is in a panic, so many of my peers seem pleasantly aloof.

This brings me to my point; maybe thinking has become the problem. Maybe these people that appear detached, misinformed or even dim have mastered the technique of something I’d like to call selective thinking: they only think about what affects them immediately and will affect them and only them. You may think I’m just using a lot of words to explain selfishness, but what they actually may be doing, whether it be intentional or not, is weeding out the BS to make their lives a little simpler. While I’m toiling away overcomplicating things and trying to make sense of the world around me, they’re complacent in their own little bubbles and will only try to fix their own problems, and sometimes not even that. Continue Reading »