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Submitted via IRC for TheMightyBuzzard
In an age of political animus, increasing hostility toward "others," and 24/7 media coverage that seems to focus on the negative, a recent article in Frontiers in Psychology provides a glimmer of hope, particularly for those who live in the United States.
Written by Yale University academic Gabriel Grant, "Exploring the Possibility of Peak Individualism, Humanity's Existential Crisis, and an Emerging Age of Purpose" aims to clear up two competing views of today's cultural narrative in the United States. First is the traditional view of the next generation—millennials—whom many view as individualistic, materialistic, and narcissistic. Some even refer to millennials as "Gen Me" in response to those who develop their "personal brand" with selfies and social media posts.
In stark contrast there is a view of millennials as rejecting selfish values and leading America into a "great age of purpose." Unlike previous generations, simply earning money is not enough for them—significant data shows that younger people are searching for purpose in their lives and their work. Consider the fact that the non-profit group 80,000 Hours (whose name represents the amount of time spent at work in the average lifespan) even exists. 80,000 Hours provides career advice to help young people build careers with social impact. Universities and businesses are increasingly following this path to help millennial workers achieve their goal of finding purpose in their lives.
Both sides can provide reams of anecdotal evidence that supports their view of millennials, and until recently, there have been few studies on the issue. In his article, however, Grant theorized that Google's digitization of millions of books and the Ngram Viewer, a tool that shows how phrases have appeared in books, could allow a quantified analysis of culture over the past two centuries, and he used this approach to quantitatively test the popular notion that a drive for purpose is increasing. What he found is encouraging.
Yeah, because people with a healthy ego would never possibly do volunteer work...
Source: https://opensource.com/article/17/10/rise-open-source
(Score: 3, Insightful) by The Mighty Buzzard on Tuesday October 10 2017, @05:15PM (6 children)
Not right-wing at all. Simply a realistic understanding of human beings as contrasted with ants or bees.
No, it just looks that way in poor light. "I want" a world in which people pull over to help someone with car trouble, so I do what I can to help create one. Anything that starts with a statement of personal desire is not altruistic by definition.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 11 2017, @05:31PM (5 children)
I guess whatever works, if materialist enlightened self interest is what it takes for you to be a decent person then so be it :D
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Wednesday October 11 2017, @07:46PM (4 children)
Missed a bit there. I'm not a materialist. Capital and material goods are way down my list of earthly desires. I simply refuse to be stolen from. I'll give you the shirt off my back if I think you need it but I'll shoot you in the face for trying to take it.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 11 2017, @08:40PM (1 child)
Lol, well since you don't know enough about the topic to discuss it I guess I can call this case closed; another ignoramus thinking he alone has figured out the universe.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday October 12 2017, @01:33AM
Darlin, anyone who hasn't figured out the universe by thirty needs their biomass recycled. Being wrong is fine but being indecisive is far worse.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Azuma Hazuki on Wednesday October 11 2017, @09:36PM (1 child)
Materialism in this case is the philosophical position that all first-order phenomena have ontological basis in inert matter. Its opposite is Idealism, which posits that all first-order phenomena are mental. The problem with Idealism is that so far no one has been able to describe, or show how would work, a purely non-material mind. We have not found any form of thought which is separated from some material substrate entirely yet.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday October 12 2017, @01:30AM
Ahh, roger. Irrelevant to what we were talking about but I hear what you're saying.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.