[p2p-research] Fwd:Against the deliberate cultivation of narcissism in personal development

Michel Bauwens michelsub2004 at gmail.com
Tue Sep 15 12:42:30 CEST 2009 

An interesting post,

Against the deliberate cultivation of narcissism in personal
development<http://blog.p2pfoundation.net/?p=4940>
[image: photo of Michel Bauwens]Michel Bauwens
15th September 2009

 One of the main psychological change technologies found in personal
development literature is to affirm and/or visualize precisely what you
want, with great emotional force. This key technique can be found again and
again in classic texts … When practiced intensely and frequently as
recommended, this technique literally becomes “the cultivation of
inflation”—the deliberate and intentional practice of self-centeredness!

The above is from a very important
thoughtpiece<http://beyondgrowth.net/social-criticism/the-cultivation-of-inflation-and-the-culture-of-narcissism-in-personal-development/>by
Duff McDuffee from the Beyond Growth blog. This “is a collaborative
blogging project focused on critiquing and expanding the personal
development field. Noting a lack of critical discourse in personal
development, Duff McDuffee and Eric Schiller founded Beyond Growth in the
hopes of using it as a platform to foster growth and responsibility.”

An important step towards the creation of a more positive
relationality-centered culture!!

*Duff McDuffee:*

*“This ability to inflate the self to God-sized proportions is a key
qualification for any personal development guru, or in fact most of the
celebrated figures in our celebrity culture. Many of the key techniques of
personal development aim at inflating the self to the size of the universe,
the inverse of the traditional religious aims of dissolving the self, seeing
that the self is illusory, or engaging in selfless service. Rather than
surrendering to a higher power, the aim of most personal development is to
become a higher power, perhaps to fill the void that is left in a culture
where “God is dead.” The aim developing of massive personal power—despite
empty words to the contrary—is clearly about having social and economic
power over others, and to be celebrated for one’s narcissism in a vacuous
celebrity culture.*

*The solution is not necessarily to always attempt to make others happy
before one’s self, as seems to be recommended in the above video. This can
easily become martyrdom, which is just as much an ego-trip as only affirming
one’s own goals. But I hope you can agree that there is an enormous
difference between affirming “may I be happy and free from suffering” with
humility and courage, and affirming “I deserve massive wealth” with
puffed-up enthusiasm—even if we can’t always congruently wish for the
happiness of all beings.*

*I am not opposed to an individual practicing the mantra or affirmation “may
I be happy” or “may I be free of suffering”—these are very useful tools, and
usually recommended as first steps within Buddhist practice for generation
of joy and compassion before practicing compassion for others. Nor do I
necessarily see any problem with deciding on an outcome or goal and infusing
it with some energy, and reminding yourself of the goal at regular
intervals. However, every religious tradition involves regularly praying for
the well being of others. By contrast, most personal development only
recommends praying for one’s individual desires. Meanwhile, the evidence
from positive psychology suggests that the main keys to our happiness come
from being deeply connected with others, and clearly our excessive
self-focus is eroding those very connections more and more.*

*What happens to a culture and society when we consciously and deliberately
invest enormous energy and focus on our selfish aims? Personally, I think we
get a lot of our present culture, and the problems within it. We get a
culture that is blind to culture, that ceases to ask ethical and social
questions, and that reduces political action to consumer choice. We get a
culture where a great number of people are unhappy and seeking ways to
become happy, and we get solutions that make people more unhappy by
encouraging them to be even more self-focused.”*

*In conclusion:*

Personal development can certainly occur without cultivating inflation and
narcissism, but doing so looks quite different from our popular images of
success and achievement, and utilizes techniques that are more precise and
often more focused on others than conventional advice from the narcissistic
gurus.



On Tue, Sep 15, 2009 at 5:18 PM, Mushin J. Schilling <
info at thelivingfield.com> wrote:

>  Dearest all,
>
> I'm contemplating these questions in regard to the proposed participatory
> spirituality (ps) conference.
>
>
>    - First of all, and this might be a question we'd like to inquire into
>    with the conference:
>    What is participatory spiritualty? What do mean by participatory, and
>    what by spirituality?
>     - And then, because meaning in my understanding cannot go without
>    embodiment in some kind of practise:
>    What processes, rituals, ceremonies and practices would further a
>    participatory spirituality? (And maybe, "which ones have to be unmasked as
>    running counter to it?")
>    - Which then leads to the question:
>    Can we validly say anything about what ps is if we are not actually
>    practicing it?
>    And even further:
>    Does ps have a meaning outside of some - however rudimentary -
>    practice?
>    - All of this leads to this question about the conference:
>    What are the principles a conference on ps needs to adhere to to be
>    truly called participatory?
>
>
>    - On a more personal not, but probably relevant as well, is the
>    question:
>    What would an 'open sourced spirituality' be? Does it simply mean to
>    define the instructions one is following in pursuing 'spirituality' as an
>    outcome and make them public? And isn't spirituality in a real sense already
>    about the "Open Source"?
>
> I guess I'll be coming up with some answers as I contemplate these a bit
> longer. I just wanted to put them to you all so you know what questions move
> me in contemplating the conference. And obviously I'll be looking more
> closely at what John has said in his 7 points with these lenses on.
>
> Love,
> Mushin
>
>
>
>
>
> Michel Bauwens schrieb:
>
> Hi John,
>
> thanks for clarifying, I had missed the co-occurence aspect,
>
> Michel
>
> On Thu, Sep 10, 2009 at 4:27 PM, John Heron <jnheron at xtra.co.nz> wrote:
>
>> second send, some addresses omitted
>>
>> Gregg, Michel
>>
>> Thanks to you both.
>>
>> Gregg, it's not just the fare that is at issue, but, as I said, the
>> psychophysical impact of the flight process. About format: on the p2p
>> website, I suggest some basic guidelines for a participatory format,
>> but nothing has been worked out in detail.
>>
>> Michel, I didn't make it clear in my last email, but my proposal is that
>> the two events (US and NZ) occur at the same time - to generate a bit of
>> planetary resonance - maybe with some mutual video link-up between them.
>>
>> John
>>
>>
>> gregg at gregglahood.com wrote:
>>
>>>
>>> John
>>>
>>> Yes I see. I rather thought that if the Fetzer Institute was prepared to
>>> back 10 flights to NZ then by having the 'conference' (i don't think we had
>>> arrived at a format yet had we?) meeting, inquiry whatever, they might be
>>> able to contribute to your business class air fare to the states) should you
>>> be interested in attending of course. Still I can understand your desire not
>>> to travel. Perhaps we coulds set up a video confernce link of some sort of
>>> group skype session? perhaps a virtual virtue conference?
>>>
>>> G
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Quoting Michel Bauwens <michelsub2004 at gmail.com>:
>>>
>>>  Hi John,
>>>>
>>>> this is an excellent proposition ... your travel concerns are very
>>>> understandable, and so are the financial concerns ...
>>>>
>>>> I think that if we can successfully fund one conference, a second may
>>>> flow
>>>> from it, and we may actually perhaps put a little post-conference budget
>>>> in
>>>> the first one, which would be a mini-fund for your proposal?
>>>>
>>>> We could also perhaps film some kind of interview or presentation with
>>>> you,
>>>> that would be part of the first conference, unless you prefer a
>>>> real-time
>>>> video conference?
>>>>
>>>> Michel
>>>>
>>>> On Thu, Sep 10, 2009 at 12:43 PM, John Heron <jnheron at xtra.co.nz>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> Gregg
>>>>>
>>>>> Thanks for asking whether I would go to a conference in the US. The
>>>>> answer
>>>>> is probably not. I currently turn down invitations to conferences
>>>>> requiring
>>>>> long-haul air travel. This is partly age-related: (1) I am over 80 and
>>>>> will
>>>>> only travel long-haul on business class seats, which many conference
>>>>> organisers find too costly; (2) I find that the effects of long hours
>>>>> in
>>>>> current cabin environments (a significant reduction in air pressure/air
>>>>> quality/oxygen/humidity) plus post-flight jetlag are not supportive of
>>>>> optimal performance. And it is partly because I often find the format
>>>>> of
>>>>> conferences unimaginative and stilted.
>>>>>
>>>>> Hence I made haste to put my bid in first to host the event in NZ. So
>>>>> far,
>>>>> if I have counted correctly, 5 out of 10 on our list prefer the US, and
>>>>> I
>>>>> prefer NZ. It is important to hear what the preferences of the other
>>>>> four of
>>>>> you are, and I invite you to state them.
>>>>>
>>>>> But even as the numbers currently stand, I propose we have *two*
>>>>> events:
>>>>> an externally funded primary one in the US with the title
>>>>> "Participatory
>>>>> Spirituality and the Emergence of the Global Commons" or some such, and
>>>>> another self-funded supportive one here in NZ with the title
>>>>> "Participatory
>>>>> Spirituality in Everyday Life". If there is general agreement about
>>>>> this
>>>>> idea, then I will change my proposal on the p2p website accordingly,
>>>>> and
>>>>> someone else will need to post a proposal with details of the US
>>>>> location,
>>>>> of the conference format/method and financial structure.
>>>>>
>>>>> John
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> gregglahood wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>  I'd be keen to visit San Fran and CIIS (I live in Australia only 3
>>>>> hours
>>>>> from NZ and make the trip as often as I can) ...but what about Esalen?
>>>>> thats
>>>>> a pretty nice participatory spot too I would have thought.  Would you
>>>>> be up
>>>>> for making the trip John if it does not happen in New Zealand ?
>>>>>
>>>>> Perhap we could do a small conference at Esalen and combine it somehow
>>>>> with
>>>>> a series of for-the-public weekend workshops which we could get paid
>>>>> for and
>>>>> which could offset some of our travel costs?
>>>>>
>>>>> Ps I am enclosing a paper on childbirth - a some what overlooked
>>>>> physiological rite in which the 'participatory mind' seems to get
>>>>> catalyzed
>>>>> - I hint in this direction - a more participatory oriented article is
>>>>> in the
>>>>> works. Anyway I'd be happy to give a workshop at Esalen or CIIS as part
>>>>> of
>>>>> the conference.
>>>>>
>>>>> Also we could contact Jurgen Kremer at Revision - about all this
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> all the best
>>>>> Gregg Lahood
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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>>
>
>
>
> --
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-- 
Work: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhurakij_Pundit_University - Research:
http://www.dpu.ac.th/dpuic/info/Research.html - Think thank:
http://www.asianforesightinstitute.org/index.php/eng/The-AFI

P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net  - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net

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-- 
Work: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhurakij_Pundit_University - Research:
http://www.dpu.ac.th/dpuic/info/Research.html - Think thank:
http://www.asianforesightinstitute.org/index.php/eng/The-AFI

P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net  - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net

Connect: http://p2pfoundation.ning.com; Discuss:
http://listcultures.org/mailman/listinfo/p2presearch_listcultures.org

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