There is a reason that people in the current generation, known as Gen Me, are hyper-focused on the “self”. For example, Chinese government forced the citizens to follow the one-child policy, which means that for one family, the mother can only give birth to one child. So children in the current generation receive all the loves and attentions from their families; as a result, they believe that they are the best. In fact, Twenge also introduces the current social norms as “many school districts across the country have specific programs designed to increase children’s self-esteem, most of which actually build self-importance and narcissism” (Twenge 495); as a result, the sense of selfishness is increasing. This hyper-focus on “Me” leads people to become selfish, and they only care about themselves without thinking about other people and society. The Generation Me becomes the idea of today’s children that they directly deserve everything and they cannot get the right judgments which actually improve their ability of completing tasks. Moreover, once such habit of taking the positive comments is formed, it is hard for individual to have introspection of the facts and reality. According to Robert Thurman, “every self-identification, …show more content…
By realizing that everything is not about “me” is one way of experiencing selflessness. Recall the example of chinese one-child policy. Temporarily, these children feel confident about themselves during their childhood; however, it is not very helpful for the long-term strategies of improvement and success. When these children are growing up, they are competing with other children who also believe that they are best; as a result, no one wins because they do not know what their shortcuts are and they also do not have the chance to correct these mistakes. In fact, under the influences of individualism, it is hard for people to maintain the right track because “people with high self-esteem are criticized, they became unfriendly, rude, and uncooperative” (Twenge 501). The Gen Me and individualism play a huge influence in shaping the way of people perceive themselves and others. People are taught to conform to the idea of individualism when they are children, and this idea will keep growing inside their minds until adulthood. The hyper-focus of “Me” leads people to become self-focused; however, in order to solve long-term problems for the future, the realization of shortcuts and mistakes becomes essential. In order for humans to obtain selflessness requires