More on this book
Community
Kindle Notes & Highlights
The moment we stop listening to diverse opinions is also when we stop learning. Because the truth is we don’t learn much from sameness and monotony. We usually learn from differences.
Learning from dofferences
But here’s the thing: sometimes narcissism is not merely an individual trait, it is a collective one. The shared illusion that we are the centre of the world. This notion was examined in detail by various thinkers in the last century, especially Theodor Adorno and Erich Fromm. What these writers had in common was that they had witnessed, first hand, the rise of nationalism, jingoism, xenophobia and totalitarianism. Their warnings are apposite today. Central to group narcissism is an inflated belief in the clear-cut distinctiveness and indisputable greatness of ‘us’ as opposed to ‘them’. One
...more
Collective narcissm-hindutva ideology
As citizens we do vote regularly, yet we don’t remember ever casting a vote as digital citizens. More and more it feels that, when it comes to digital technologies, all the decisions are taken without us and despite us. As one recent study put it, ‘While there is a general awareness of surveillance, the uncertainty about how and why data is collected indicates that it happens without much public interrogation.’* We are confused – but confusion has now become a way of life.
Motherlands are castles made of glass. In order to leave them, you have to break something – a wall, a social convention, a cultural norm, a psychological barrier, a heart. What you have broken will haunt you.
