Sunday, June 28, 2009

Attention Part 1

Pardon my use of vulgarity but for the sake of illustrating my point I will use this word one time. Why are we (by we I mean humans) such attention whores. I mean really, why does everybody from Michael Jackson to the kid everybody picked on in third grade crave attention!?!?!?

Is it due to some innate sense of low self esteem, which can only be elevated by receiving attention. Or is it symbolic of a deeper and larger issue? The issue of wanting to be accepted and understood. Or is that we need to be constantly recognized in a public fashion. Or is it due to the desire to achieve fame and to be extolled. Or it could be as simple as looking for that approval which we lack. These are all individual postulates for what the answer could be. Maybe the answer is multifaceted and all of these factors contribute to reason why we search for attention. From my perspective there could be no right or wrong answer since everybody has their own opinion. But I have my own theory.

We are all attention mongers. Everybody has a different level of what I call the attention seeking syndrome, some more severe than others. I think everybody has an individual subconscious reason for seeking attention that which we may or may not be aware of. Some people I think seek attention for egotistical purposes. This group of attention mongers will do anything in their power to be publicly acknowledged because they love the spotlight. They may seek attention through telling jokes, or showcasing talents that are other forms of entertainment such as dancing or singing. Some people even seek attention by making random comments such as "I'm tired" when they are clearly not or they will speak about an event they attended over the weekend when nobody asked. Or some people will yearn for people to call, text, or I'm them so they can feel special. This is an alternative form of attention seeking. I am guilty of this form of attention mongering! We even seek attention by wearing certain clothes that will make us appear provocative (for females) and dapper(for men. We also like to draw attention by wearing uncanny articles of clothing or jewelry)! Anytime we defy the norm with our fashion we seek attention!

I am intrigued by the possible cause of attention seeking. There must be some nascent quality that humans possess which stimulates the necessity to be recognized. One universal mode of attention seeking is the pursuit of fame. Why are humans so obsessed with being famous and being on television. Honestly Hollywood stars are recognized so much more than the person who cured Polio. Again I was allured by the thought of being rich and famous but with further analysis of the invasive lives that celebrities lead I examined my desire to be famous! I must admit I used to perform with a dance troupe in college and the euphoria that runs through your veins when you are on stage is indescribable. Hundreds, thousands of people come to watch you perform all at the same time never mind cheer you on. Again the key word in the previous sentence was "you", everybody else on stage wasn't even acknowledged which points towards the innate egotism of the human existence!

1 comment:

  1. Fascinating!!! I too suffer from attention seeking syndrome lol, which could possibly be why I am commenting or it could be I'm a great friend that is interested in your ideas. It is true all human beings young and old suffer from this syndrome and I believe it has to do with defining our sense of self. The younger you are the more obsessed with attention you are the older the more content you are with what you have. To me, it's because we use people's perseptions of us to determine who we are and how we see ourselves. I am funny, I know this because I am constantly told by people therefore I see myself as funny. We crave attention because it is vital in discocvering who we are. Not only does it contribute to discovering our identity, how we see ourselves based on how people see us, but it also is used to find our place in socitey. Who do we attract? What groups will we fall into? All about acceptance, well at least thats how I see it :-)

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