No, I am not going to talk about what you think I am about
to discuss. It’s a good topic too; we will put it away for another day.
Today I want to talk about how we human beings are the
hypocrites of the first order. We all claim that we do not care about what the
world has to say about us but secretly we all crave approval and adulation. The
rebels are the worst kind of attention seekers, they believe that they are
special (well, we all do…so do our mothers) and go on to defy all conventions
and they secretly hope to set a trend, may be one named after them.
I have seldom come across a genuine recluse. Some people
move away from a set of people only to seek validation and approval from a
different set of people. No one is capable of living without the assurance of
being lovable from other people.
Evidence 1: Our love for fame
Is that not the worst form of approval seeking tendency? You
want people who do not even know you, to like you, even though you know that
you will never be able to return the favour! How selfish is that?
Evidence 2: Our need for love
Yes, our need for love from another person is a subset of
this attention seeking syndrome only. We seek out someone we consider to be
special and then we want this person to feel the same about us.
Evidence 3: Facebook
Well, the saddest irony is that with age we tend to grow
more and more rigid and we tend to like less and less number of people; yet
somehow we feel a growing need to be loved and validated by other people. And
yeah, we find the solution in Facebook.
We can no longer tolerate face to face meetings with certain
people but it is totally ok to have a symbiotic friendship on Facebook.
Well, I am human and I have never claimed to be God…in fact if you
know me closely you would know that I do not even believe in the concept of God.
So it is pretty obvious that I too would highly appreciate it if you like my
blog. It is just a lie when I say that all sorts of criticism are welcome. I do
enjoy the debate that follows from a negative response but I feel sore when you
truly find the post limpid. That’s enough truth for one day and I hope that you
would have the courtesy to lie in case you do not like this post.
True that adulation is one sort of recognition we all crave for. What becomes more interesting is the hypocrisy that most often than not follows this craving. There are very few who generally escape the everyday ringmarole of having an opinion, which suits the public but even those who are staunch supporters of a point of view contrary to that of the general public, would still bask in the limelight of his/her opinion being accepted or praised.. Probably because it gives a sense of belonging. Often though, it is not just the sense of adulation but the extent.. To be more specific, with a Facebook analogy, not simply who has liked the comment/photo but how many have.. And this is where I feel the hypocrisy comes in.. Most of us do want to stand out from the crowd and be recognised as unique but desire an acceptance from the masses.. Quite contrary..!! Another important aspect especially in today's time, is how far and in which direction this constant desire for approval takes us.. From harmless jokes in the school hallway to perhaps drawing out a gun and shooting an innocent..!!
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