Introduction
We are living in an era of evolution and facilities unlike in the past. Medical and technological advancements have increased human life span and provided us with comfort and luxuries. Regardless of all these benefits, we are still facing many mental and psychological problems individually and socially.
Here we will look at some of the most common and widespread toxic philosophies of modern human society, which were nonexistent in the past.
Meritocracy
According to the philosophy of meritocracy, every successful person got success only on the bases of talent and hard work. Those who have failed in life must be lacking talent or they did not work hard enough simple is that. This definition of success and failure at first seems quite reliable and solid but as we progress in our lives and watch others find success and failure, we find it hard to believe that only talent and effort determine what is in our future.
To understand this loop of success and failure, we must also consider luck and tragedy as essential players of our life’s game. Luck which gives us the edge of getting more result with less effort and tragedy which decides that even good and hard-working people can fail several times in life.
Individualism
In a society which agrees with individualism, everyone is expected to born to change the world. Everyone is destined to fulfil their unrealistic prophecy of reaching unimaginable results. This thought greatly underestimates the value of normal life and pleasure of everyday activities which seem quite ordinary but good. If we think for a second we won’t find it hard to realize that most of us statistically speaking, will not satisfy the expectations of Individualistic society
To overcome the non-realistic ideology of individualism we need to slow down and appreciate the small and meaningful things in our life. We should just stop and smell a rose. We have to teach ourselves that what we see on social media is only 1 % of the life of 1% of people currently living in our time.
Even their lives are filled with small and insignificant details that no one will ever know about and that’s okay.
Romanticism
True love, from the moment we start grasping the idea of life we find ourselves looking for our soul mate. The one person out there who has the key to our true and everlasting happiness. If we are unable to unite with that one person we have yet to complete the purpose of our life. We see on social media the perfect life of some perfect celebrity couple and imagine ourselves in their place but never get to realize our dreams. The truth is that there is no such person and each person is living in their fantasy far from reality.
In actual life, we have to make peace with someone who has some good habits and a few irrational characteristics and our partner have to do the same. The idea of romanticism gives us the desire of someone perfect but even if there is someone with perfection, that person will never consider our human nature flawed and imperfect.
Media
One of the most viral and widely used technologies of the modern era is the media. It is also the most influential piece of technological advancement of the present time. It has brought the entire world one common platform to share information and knowledge. But most of the time it is seen to spread negative and extreme events and news. It is also said to be influenced by government officials and large corporations.
Although it is a source of widespread background anxiety and depression if we use it properly like any other tool it can work in our favour. It should not be believed without proof and we should encourage media for sharing positive steps it takes.
Bottom Line
No matter how we look at anything, there are always things to avoid and things to appreciate. The philosophies of our modern times have severe consequences but help is also available to anyone who seeks it. So creating space for a new perspective and having a flexible mentality will surely be beneficial for us.