Egocentricity (=thinking of oneself as being at the center of the universe and seeing everything primarily from that perspective) is a universal human characteristic—and a persistent problem that needs to be combated.
Explanation of Egocentricity
Babies are born self-centered. In those first weeks/months
they don’t have the ability to understand the world except from their own perspective.
Normal infants, though, grow to an ever-increasing awareness of the world
outside themselves and as young adults outgrow much of their egocentricity.
We start life thinking about “me” and, in a healthy/happy
childhood proceed to see things proudly from the standpoint of “my
family,” “my community,” “my church,” “my country,” and so
on. Whatever is “mine” is normative and “the best.”
(Yesterday was Father’s Day, and I wonder how many children,
of any age, sent cards or other items to their fathers boldly proclaiming, “World’s
Greatest [or Best] Dad!”—here
is a link to numerous images saying that. Since he is my father, he
must be the best!)
Unfortunately, most people never fully grow out of their
egocentrism in order to see themselves and their surroundings more objectively—and
more correctly. Thus, they are continually inflicted with observations/evaluations
skewed by egocentric bias.
Mature people seek to combat/overcome such bias by endeavoring
to understand the world from the viewpoint of other people also and not just
their own. This is an ongoing issue with which we all must struggle.
Examples of Egocentricity
Consider two examples of objectionable egocentricity I have
recently observed.
** Example #1 – Reason for School Shootings
Here is a meme I have seen several times on Facebook:
This is an example of people seeing
things only from their own (limited) perspective and intimating that if things
were just like they experienced the rash of contemporary school shootings could
be curtailed.
Such people fail to note that the
countries where homicides by guns are the very lowest are countries where the
percentage of Christians is also very low and where there certainly is not, or
was not, daily classroom prayer and reading from the Bible.
The homicide death rate by guns per
100,000 people is 0 (zero!) in Japan and Hong Kong! As only about 2% of the citizens
in Japan and around 11% in Hong Kong are Christians, the public schools in
those countries most certainly do not start the day with Bible reading and (Christian)
prayer—and never did.
Maybe there is some reason for mass
shootings in U.S. schools (and elsewhere) other than “taking God out of our
schools.”
** Example #2 – Reason for High Gas Prices
Currently, inflation is definitely a big problem in the U.S.—and
some wrongly-focused politicians are now declaring that having
to pay $5-6 a gallon for gasoline is a more critical issue than the serious
threat to U.S. democracy seen in the insurrection at the Capitol on Jan. 6 last
year.
Many Republican politicians—and Facebook memes, again—directly
accuse President Biden’s flawed policies as being the main reason for the inflated
gasoline prices in the U.S.
According
to a recent report, though, on June 13 a gallon of gasoline (in U.S. dollars)
costs $10.22 in Norway, $9.06 in Central African Republic, $8.39 in the U.K., $7.82
in New Zealand—and $5.19 in the U.S. It is amazing how Pres. Biden has so much
influence on gas prices around the world!
Or, isn’t this just another example of how people tend to view
things only from their own egocentric (or ethnocentric) perspective rather than
understand matters as they really are?
Elimination of Egocentricity
Egocentricity can/will never be completely eliminated even
in the most mature among us. But we all can meaningfully work toward the elimination
of unacceptable egocentricity through concerted efforts to try to see things
from other people’s point of view also—and to search for objective truth.
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