Current TV’s mission has from the beginning been to “democratize” television and provide a platform for younger filmmakers that may have a harder time gaining access to larger media networks. (Check out “Good News in TV Land,” by EnlightenNext contributing editor Maura O’Connor) To that end, Current gathers around 30% of their short films and stories from outside of their studios. But unlike YouTube and the many other user-generated-content platforms on the web, Current TV isn’t just a free-for-all in which the talented is all mixed up with the tedious. They are known as the “HBO of the YouTube generation,” and through editorial selection and a unique voting process, the best and most thought-provoking interviews on Current rise, like cream, to the top. As they say, they’re trying to “raise the conversation” that’s happening online.

The reason for our interview was the fact that Silva and Lugavere’s late night talk show on Current, called Still Up, will be featuring EnlightenNext among a variety of other sources in a July 13th episode dedicated to the evolution of consciousness. Describing the upcoming show as “a televised version of an Alex Grey painting,” the two plan to feature everything from “esoteric techno optimism” and immortalism of Ray Kurzweil (which they’ve also made a short film about) to an interview with Deepak Chopra and a review of the variety of opinions about what if anything will happen in 2012.

Our conversation was a good one. And while I was very interested in hearing what they had to say about the current status and future of media, I was most keen on finding out what they thought about the future of Generation Y, which has caused so many employers, cultural critics, and parents to scratch their heads. As Tom Huston pointed out in his recent column, we’re the dumbest, the most idealistic, the most technologically adept, and the most narcissistic generation ever. . . and no one quite knows whether the future is in capable hands. And so as two budding thought leaders and broad cultural voices for our generation (they think of themselves as Bill Maher for the next generation), I wanted to find out where they stood on the issue.

You can listen to the interview below (18:38):

And to watch their upcoming Still Up episode on the evolution of consciousness, airing at midnight Eastern, 11 Central and 9 Pacific on Current TV, which you can watch on the following channels:

DirecTV 358
Dish Network 196
Comcast 107
Time Warner LA 142
Time Warner NYC 103
Time Warner everywhere else: Check local listings.

From new paparazzi-for-hire businesses that give anyone with a few grand the opportunity to feel like an adored celebrity, to the sixfold increase in plastic surgery over the past decade, to new research showing that only a minority of parents still feel that obedience is a desirable quality for their children to have, Twenge paints a stark picture of our current cultural predicament that is both offensive and deeply implicating for any self-respecting narcissist. But while many of the examples she provides tend toward the extreme manifestations of narcissism in culture (Britney Spears, Reality TV, and MySpace junkies), don’t be fooled into thinking that narcissism is strictly a problem for a few celebrities and cocky CEOs. Twenge says that narcissism is a cultural affliction that affects all of us. If you don’t believe me, I challenge you take the following Narcissistic Personality Inventory test, which Twenge used as the foundation for much of her research. I took it. And while my score didn’t reach Donald Trump proportions, my numbers definitely reflect the narcissistic culture that bore me.

Below are forty pairs of statements. To take the test, record which statement in each pair best describes you. At the end, total up your score based on the provided key.

Good luck and be honest!! The results might just humble you.

1.
A. I have a natural talent for influencing people.
B. I am not good at influencing people.

2.
A. Modesty doesn’t become me.
B. I am essentially a modest person.

3.
A. I would do almost anything on a dare.
B. I tend to be a fairly cautious person.

4.
A. When people compliment me I sometimes get embarrassed.
B. I know that I am good because everybody keeps telling me so.

5.
A. The thought of ruling the world frightens the hell out of me.
B. If I ruled the world it would be a better place.

6.
A. I can usually talk my way out of anything.
B. I try to accept the consequences of my behavior.

7.
A. I prefer to blend in with the crowd.
B. I like to be the center of attention.

8.
A. I will be a success.
B. I am not too concerned about success.

9.
A. I am no better or worse than most people.
B. I think I am a special person.

10.
A. I am not sure if I would make a good leader.
B. I see myself as a good leader.

11.
A. I am assertive.
B. I wish I were more assertive.

12.
A. I like to have authority over other people.
B. I don’t mind following orders.

13.
A. I find it easy to manipulate people.
B. I don’t like it when I find myself manipulating people.

14.
A. I insist upon getting the respect that is due me.
B. I usually get the respect that I deserve.

15.
A. I don’t particularly like to show off my body.
B. I like to show off my body.

16.
A. I can read people like a book.
B. People are sometimes hard to understand.

17.
A. If I feel competent I am willing to take responsibility for making decisions.
B. I like to take responsibility for making decisions.

18.
A. I just want to be reasonably happy.
B. I want to amount to something in the eyes of the world.

19.
A. My body is nothing special.
B. I like to look at my body.

20.
A. I try not to be a show off.
B. I will usually show off if I get the chance.

21.
A. I always know what I am doing.
B. Sometimes I am not sure of what I am doing.

22.
A. I sometimes depend on people to get things done.
B. I rarely depend on anyone else to get things done.

23.
A. Sometimes I tell good stories.
B. Everybody likes to hear my stories.

24.
A. I expect a great deal from other people.
B. I like to do things for other people.

25.
A. I will never be satisfied until I get all that I deserve.
B. I take my satisfactions as they come.

26.
A. Compliments embarrass me.
B. I like to be complimented.

27.
A. I have a strong will to power.
B. Power for its own sake doesn’t interest me.

28.
A. I don’t care about new fads and fashions.
B. I like to start new fads and fashions.

29.
A. I like to look at myself in the mirror.
B. I am not particularly interested in looking at myself in the mirror.

30.
A. I really like to be the center of attention.
B. It makes me uncomfortable to be the center of attention.

31.
A. I can live my life in any way I want to.
B. People can’t always live their lives in terms of what they want.

32.
A. Being an authority doesn’t mean that much to me.
B. People always seem to recognize my authority.

33.
A. I would prefer to be a leader.
B. It makes little difference to me whether I am a leader or not.

34.
A. I am going to be a great person.
B. I hope I am going to be successful.

35.
A. People sometimes believe what I tell them.
B. I can make anybody believe anything I want them to.

36.
A. I am a born leader.
B. Leadership is a quality that takes a long time to develop.

37.
A. I wish somebody would someday write my biography.
B. I don’t like people to pry into my life for any reason.

38.
A. I get upset when people don’t notice how I look when I go out in public.
B. I don’t mind blending into the crowd when I go out in public.

39.
A. I am more capable than other people.
B. There is a lot that I can learn from other people.

40.
A. I am much like everybody else.
B. I am an extraordinary person.

SCORING KEY:

Assign one point for each response that matches the key.

1, 2 and 3: A
4, 5: B
6: A
7: B
8: A
9, 10: B
11, 12, 13, 14: A
15: B
16: A
17, 18, 19, 20: B
21: A
22, 23: B
24, 25: A
26: B
27: A
28: B
29, 30, 31: A
32: B
33, 34: A
35. B
36, 37, 38, 39: A
40: B

The average score for the general population is 15.3. The average score for celebrities is 17.8.

To be honest, I have never been a Kobe fan. For most of his career he has exhibited a kind of brash arrogance on the court that has often repulsed both his opponents and his teammates and his controversial escapades off the court have won him little praise in the public eye. But something was different about him in this series. Maybe it was a matter of time and maturity (it was his thirteenth season in the league…a long career for an NBA player). Maybe it was the fact that he helped to lead the USA basketball team—a collection of the world’s best players—to a gold medal in this past summer’s Olympic games. But it was clear that Kobe had changed, and he exhibited a kind of responsibility for all of his teammates that was downright touching. In the post game interviews and celebrations, he consistently referred to how hard they had all worked for this and how much they had sacrificed to make it happen.

But while seeing anyone come into their own in any context is inspiring, watching Kobe during the play-offs was significant for another reason.

Earlier in the week, our editor in chief, Andrew Cohen, and I interviewed San Diego State University psychology professor Jean M. Twenge about her new book, The Narcissism Epidemic: Living in the Age of Entitlement , for an article in the upcoming issue of EnlightenNext magazine. In the book, Twenge gives a shocking overview of all of the data she’s collected that proves, statistically, that we are in the midst of a kind of narcissistic renaissance—born by the boomers in the 60s and flowering in their Gen-X and Gen-Y children—in which more and more of us think we’re better than we actually are and have put our own needs and desires higher than just about anything else in the universe. As she says in the book:

A narcissist has an overinflated view of his own abilities, similar to a kitten that sees himself as a lion on the popular poster. Narcissists are not just confident, they’re overconfident. In short, narcissists admire themselves too much.

This cultural affliction is problematic for many reasons. As Twenge told us in the interview, it inhibits our ability to have intimate relationships with others, it leads to the kind of irresponsible spending that helped to drive the current financial bust, and many other issues. But perhaps most tragically, the self-inflated narcissistic bubbles, or “mePods” as my fellow editor Tom Huston calls them, that most of us walk around in keep us safely ignorant of the many ways in which we could all be infinitely better human beings—more aware, more efficient, more ethical, and more awake to a higher moral context. If everyone is great, then what impetus is there to strive to become any better?

That brings me back to Kobe Bryant. What struck me most about watching him win this past week was that he and I are the same age. I just turned thirty this past December, several months after Bryant also entered his fourth decade. And while I haven’t exactly spent my life on the couch, I can’t say that I’ve put out anything near the dedication, sacrifice, and commitment it has taken to bring Bryant to where he is today. Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not suggesting that Kobe is some kind of angelic, highly-evolved, non-narcissistic saint of a man that we should all strive to emulate. But for a typical product of the narcissism epidemic like myself, the simple fact that a man like Bryant has accomplished so much in as much time on the planet as me and with what have most likely been less opportunities to succeed as me, is a perfect antidote for my own deeply-conditioned tendency towards unearned, self-ascribed greatness. And if any of us are going to be able to kick the narcissism bug in order to be able to develop the kind of humanity that this world requires of us right now, I think it’s imperative that we have the humbling experience of comparing ourselves to others a heck of a lot more often.

If you want to see Kobe in action, check out the video below of some of his best plays during this year’s play-offs:

What he had to say was both moving and surprising. According to Tarraza, meditation and creativity are both completely related and completely unrelated. Rodrigo spoke about how when he meditates he really doesn’t care about being creative at all and that when he’s engaged in the act of creativity, he isn’t focused on coming from any kind of meditative state. Making this distinction is important, he said, because in order to be fully creative or fully immersed in the emptiness of the ground of being in meditation, you need to be able to give your self completely to both. He stated over and over again how in meditation you have to be willing to go all the way, to let go of the world and the mind completely, for the sake of meditation itself.

Perhaps his most interesting point he made was that there have been many extraordinarily creative people who have never meditated before. And there are many profound meditators who are not creative. But for him, the committed practice of meditation has helped to cultivate a deep trust in life that allows for a new way of being and most importantly, creates the space for a new way of working creatively with others.  This topic is so significant for us postmodern narcissists, because as Rodrigo pointed out, our minds are crazy!

Make sure to watch the short video clip of Rodrigo speaking to Andrew Cohen about meditation at a retreat all set against a backdrop of him performing with his jazz fusion band, Unfulfilled Desires. It’s very cool.

Comedy shows, from SNL to The Daily Show to Judge’s own King of the Hill, have made a habit of satirizing the views and values of conservative America. But this new show has targeted a whole new demographic: the vegan, eco-conscious, politically-correct, ever-concerned-about-the-global-impacts-of-their-every-choice crowd that has made Whole Foods one of the most successful companies in the world and played a significant role in electing America’s first African American president. And while I found the show to be genius (I’m a green, Barack Obama idolizing kind of guy), it has received some pretty scathing critiques from reviewers of the more liberal persuasion who may not be able to handle it when the joke’s on them.

The premise is fantastic. Helen Goode, a middle-aged activist who sports a “Meat Is Murder” t-shirt for most of the episode, and her husband Gerald, an administrator at a local community college who rides his bike to work (of course!), are trying to navigate the contradictions inherent in raising their family according to the less-than-a-decade-old moral philosophy, WWAGD? or “What Would Al Gore Do?”

They adopted their 16-year-old “African” American son, for example, in an effort “to fight racism and inequality in the world.” But much to their bleeding heart’s dismay, during the adoption process they forgot to check a box on a form and received a child from South Africa—a blond-haired caucasian Afrikaner baby whom they named Ubuntu.

Their daughter, Bliss, is a classic case of Gen-Y cynicism, tech-savviness, and sarcasm (not to mention her perfectly slumped text-messaging posture) and is constantly poking holes in her parents’ worldview. Last but not least is the family dog, named Che after the South American revolutionary and countercultural icon. Che has been put on a strict vegan diet, and much to the dismay of the neighborhood pets, is constantly looking to supplement his protein-deficient organic golden flaxseed chow with a parakeet, cat, or goldfish (check out the video below to see Che in action).

While the premiere episode was chock full of penetrating one-liners and awkwardly insightful scenarios, one scene in particular stood out above the rest. Helen decides that it’s important for she and her teenage daughter to be more open with each other about sexuality. But her plan backfires when Bliss, who is creeped out by the idea of talking sex with her mother, rebelliously joins a Christian-sponsored chastity group. Infuriated by the idea of a Goode family member fraternizing with “those abstinence people who wear Amercian flag pins,” Helen voices her concerns to her husband, hoping for sympathy. But Gerald’s response presents her with one of the hilarious contradictions faced on the path to perfect political correctness: “Maybe we shouldn’t be so judgmental,” he says. “Don’t we always try to celebrate people’s differences and learn from them?” To which Helen responds, “Sure, if they’re like Native Americans or backwards rainforest tribes. But not these people!”

Ouch! With scenes like this, which are so implicating for a dyed-in-the-wool liberal that one can’t quite decide whether to laugh or squirm, it’s no wonder that many reviewers have claimed that the show is a conservative attack on progressive values—another battle in the culture war, where liberals are finally getting a dose of the ridicule that they’ve been dishing out for years. But in actuality the show’s creators are anything but anti-green. In fact, their own ability to perfectly convey the mood and subtle contradictions of this worldview stem from the fact they themselves grapple with and embody everything that appears on the screen. Watching interviews with the writers, animators, and actors reveals a familiar and sophisticated sort of insight into the postmodern condition that could only come from having been tortured by it oneself (see Ross Robertson’s recent post, “Pomoboarding“) and who are searching for some way to gain objectivity on it all. As Altschuler said on a recent CNN interview, “The whole show is about the knots we’ve found ourselves put in.” (Che, for example, is based on his friend’s vegan dog.)

The show’s creators believe that The Goode Family is a perfect response to the cultural zeitgeist, in which moral dilemmas like those faced by the Goodes (Paper or Plastic? Organic or Local? What should we call minorities?) have become common. But a flurry of reviewers begged to differ, most notably those from NPR, The San Francisco Chronicle, and The New York Times. The Times’ Ginia Bellafonte called the show “aggressively off-kilter with the current mood” in her review, suggesting that poking fun at wind power and organic food is oh so mid-nineties, and wondering why anyone would want to criticize ideals that have become broadly accepted. Others have said that the premise is too easy a target and that the jokes will soon get old.

But I think that the reviewers miss a pretty significant point when they write the show off as merely outdated and tired (their critiques may be due to the fact that the show makes fun of a world that, for them, has become a little too close to home). What is most interesting to me about The Goode Family is that it shows how the once countercultural values of the 60s have become so popular that an entire network TV show is dedicated to poking fun at them (much like Judge’s other hit, King of the Hill, poked fun at the older and much more established BBQ and Jesus culture of middle America). In other words, it seems that what we consider “mainstream” has evolved. And now those who are pushing the mainstream edge may no longer be progressives dissing conservatives, but those who are starting to see through the progressive worldview itself–from the inside out. As Variety magazine’s Brian Lowry points out, “assuming liberals can laugh at their own foibles, ABC might just have TV’s first true Obama-era sitcom on its hands.”

The premiere episode’s final scene perfectly sums up The Goode Family’s fundamental mood. When Ubuntu takes the family Prius out for a ride and apologizes to his father for wasting gas, Gerald offers some fatherly advice: “That’s okay Ubuntu. The important thing is that you feel guilty about it.”

The show may not offer any grand solutions and it will no doubt ridicule some pretty noble causes. But the fact that it dares make fun of a worldview that, as Mike Judge says in the trailer, often leaves its adherents feeling “forever guilty about being a human being on the planet,” gives it a five-star rating in my book.

To check out the first episode (23 minutes) yourself, go to ABC.com and find The Goode Family in the Free Episodes menu.

For anyone interested in spiritual evolution, narcissism has always been the issue at hand. As spiritual teacher and visionary Andrew Cohen explains:

“[Narcissism] basically means we see life and all of our experience through the prism of the separate ego. The way narcissism works is that the event of experience itself automatically creates, at a subtle level, the sense of being special—any experience at all. The experience itself, whatever it may be, is not a problem—the problem is what the ego does with it.”

And in our postmodern era, that separate, special, sense of self has become more inflamed than ever. As a 1979 baby, I grew up fully in this cultural milieu–a culture where  your own feelings and experiences become the “great story,” your life’s guiding principle. Duty, religion, family, country–moral structures that have held society together for centuries–have all, to a great extent, become submerged in the anoxic swamp waters of a “my way or the highway” philosophy.

Beyond the spiritually aware pioneers, narcissism as a culturally recognized disease has not had much attention until recently. We had some early warning signals, such as when Christopher Lasch published a book called “The Culture of Narcissism” in 1979, or when the next year, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders first recognized the emergence of “narcissistic personality disorder”. But even as late as 2006, when Time magazine awarded “You” the Person of the Year award, the irony was lost on the masses. With a reflective cover, the magazine officially made gazing at your image culturally approved–no more mocking that “Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all” business (circa 1938).

“This is the cultural moment of the narcissist.”  –Emily Yoffe, Slate magazine

Then recently, Slate came out with an article entitled “But Enough About You … What is narcissistic personality disorder, and why does everyone seem to have it?”. The Slate article documents some recent accusations that it was America’s and Wall Street’s narcissism that got us into this financial crisis. They quote the researchers Jean Twenge (author of Generation Me) and Keith Campbell, for some scientific backup:

“Psychologists Jean Twenge and W. Keith Campbell, authors of The Narcissism Epidemic, who obviously have a stake in proving there is one, estimate around 10 percent of today’s young people have clinical manifestations of NPD. They believe narcissism is a cultural virus that has spread throughout the population over the past several decades.”

But the real coup d’etat was Steven Colbert’s performance on his wildly popular late night comedy show, The Colbert Report (narcissism intentional). Enjoy!

Clip #1:

The Colbert Report	Mon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Me Time – American Narcissism
colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Gay Marriage Commercial

Clip #2:

The Colbert Report	Mon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Me Time – Emily Yoffe on Narcissistic Personality Disorder
colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Gay Marriage Commercial

(We apologize to our non-U.S. visitors for your inability to view this clip!)

To our delight, we received a very heartwarming and enlightening response from none other than Christiana’s mother (my mother-in-law),  a dyed-in-the-wool child of the sixties (she lived in San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury district when it was cool and lived in India in the late 60s when the Beatles were there), about her reactions to the “swamp” that we described.

With her permission, I’ve posted her response here. I wanted to share it because her perspective on the cultural explosion that has defined our lives and ideas in more ways than many of us care to admit, carries the kind of weight that only someone who lived before, through, and after those times could really bring. Enjoy!

Dear Joel, Diane, Tom and Christiana,

This was a fantastic dialogue with the Radio hosts in Burlington! It was so great to hear all of you express, in different ways, how we, as humans, are leaping into the next level of consciousness. At least a few brave souls are charging ahead and articulating a clear vision of why it’s necessary to do so. I haven’t heard the other shows, but it seems, by the reaction of the the hosts, that you kind of surprised them with the direction you were taking. The evolutionary impulse was really bursting forth. I could hear it in your voices.

You have all clarified for me something that I was very aware of, but never put a name to— “neo-hippie” ism.

I remember speaking with Joel last August, as we sat on the “no cars allowed” street right in Burlington, watching all the young and not so young people walk by in hippie regalia. I said there’s something that is attractive to me about the way they looked and also something very repellent. The attraction part was identifying with my own past, (having spent a few of my college years in the Haight Ashbury in San Francisco in the ’60’s), feeling young and hopeful, courageous and rebellious, willing to break out of the old boundaries and create a new world. That was the “leading edge” at the time and boy, did we know it! It was an explosion of consciousness which rattled the powers-that-be and reverberated across the country and around the world. It happened so quickly and was out of control, but it was real.

But that was then. And when I looked around at the people, (okay, the neo-hippies) on the street that day last August, I could see that they had adopted a “life-style” which seemed to be very hip and cool, but it just a parody and had no real substance to it. It was ultra post-modern and reeked with narcissism. The crest of the 60’s wave had slid into backwards into a trough and what was once edge with a purpose was now sickening-mainstream-comfortable.

So, to hear you, (as offspring of the green meme, transcending the swamp), speaking from your own experience about some of the important issues of this age, with the all-important evolutionary perspective, is truly inspiring! Perhaps some of those neo-hippies who might be listening will hear something different in your voices, something very positive and think “Mmmm? What’s all this about?”

And here are some thoughts about the show:

One benefit of our Burlington Radio Show on Friday mornings is that we are starting to bring out and make objective the strands of postmodern culture that shape our ideas, values, and actions, but that we aren’t necessarily aware of. One of these maxims that came out on last Friday’s call was our dependence on balance as a guiding principle–and how diametrically opposed balance and evolution can be.

We spoke about two of the sacred balancing cows of our generation:  the balancing of masculine and feminine energy and the quest to balance humanity with our collective impact on the earth. The all too familiar idea is that the world has gotten out of balance due to our over emphasis on industry, consumerism, masculinity, and other modern sins. Now we need to (continue to) restore the balance by bringing in the opposite of those energies–local economy, living simply, femininity, and others.

That the world is suffering from ecological and cultural disasters is not in doubt. Thank God that movements to protect the environment, bring equality, respect cultures and peoples have become part of our value set! These are all movements that I have been part of, as most of us have, to some degree or another. I remember long nights sorting waste in my college’s Physical Plant to determine how many pounds of recyclables were getting tossed by careless college brats. Ahhh, the crusade against the non-recycling hold-outs was a Holy War and I was Earth’s knight in shining armor. With my Nalgene full of superiority juice, my friends and I would snatch discarded plastic bottles out of the trash cans and pile them into the recycling bins, glaring with contempt at the evil sinners–our dorm room neighbors–who we condemned as consciously plotting to destroy the world.

The desire to push back against the problems created by the previous generation’s stunning scientific, economic, and political development was very strong. But that structure of pushing back against progress, (in its own context, modernism IS progressive, least we forget), is in danger of getting in the way now that we are poised to move into a new stage of creative explosion. In this conversation, we are talking about aligning with the universe’s creative energy, as ourselves, a leap forward that will throw anyone off balance. I wonder if it isn’t the knee-jerk attachment to balance in life that is holding us to our postmodern moorings. Perhaps we need to speak about the fact that moving forward into a new value-sphere doesn’t mean giving up the good postmodern values– they will always be part of us. It means giving up our attachment to them, at the expense of adopting new ones.

We are talking about what comes next. As Diane so aptly put on the show (see audio, above), we are talking about the move from postmodern to an evolutionary worldview, not from modern to postmodern.

Looking forward to more!

Seduced by TV, the Internet, video games and text messaging, young people are famously reading less and less — 15-to 24-year-olds in the United States spend less than nine minutes a day reading for pleasure, according to 2008 U.S. Department of Labour statistics.