Blackburn’s essay struck me as rather humdrum declinist complaining based on the currently most visible bits of society and an idealization of the past, rather than on a fair or comprehensive understanding of contemporary culture.
I think perhaps I was not as effective in this post as I had hoped. I am glad that, normally, you love Daily Nous. Or look at a review of Blackburn’s new book, Mirror, Mirror: The Uses and Abuses of Self-Love, in The Chronicle, by Clancy Martin. Oy, what am I doing? Sorry–just look at me spout off. I mean, someone who is practically a baby boomer is calling someone else vain? Seriously? Right, Blackburn, I’m sure no one was ever narcissistic before today, especially not the folks who lived over 2000 years ago when the Narcissus myth was written! But seriously, inferring increased vanity in a population because they now have the technology to quickly take and widely share photos of themselves, and so take and share those photos, is like inferring a better sense of humor from a set of people because they are currently being told jokes, and so laugh. Seems to me, though, that only someone completely full of himself would attempt such a sweeping characterization of contemporary culture.
Simon Blackburn gives us his version of a “kids, these days, let me tell you” cranky rant about selfies, which he rescues from crankyland only by saying we should respond to the vanity and conceit and narcissism encouraged in today’s society with mockery.
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