The Celebration of Egocentrity
In his recent Time article "Living Solo," (March 12, 2012), and his new book "Going Solo," Erik Klinenberg, a professor of sociology at New York University, reports on the growing world-wide tendency for adults to live alone. After presenting his research, he ventures into an expression of his personal values: individual freedom, personal control, and self-realization. He finishes with a remarkably egocentric opinion: "Living alone allows us to do what we want, when we want, on our own terms. It liberates us from the constraints of a domestic partner's needs and demands, and permits us to focus on ourselves. Today, in our age of digital media and ever expanding social networks, living alone can offer even greater benefits: the time and space for restorative soliltide."
I doubt if any author has lost money on pandering to self-centerednes. As a research sociologist, he may be infatuated with his statistics as well as superficial social networks like Facebook. However, he seems clueless about the emotional and social consequences of egocentricity.
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