WHAT IS WRONG WITH THE SELFIE?

One time, I saw a female student in our school lobby, seated on a bench, her mobile phone on one hand, getting it on the level of her face, and making those facial acrobatics. So what on earth was she doing? In a faster-than-speed-of-light manner, I figured out what was keeping her preoccupied. 


Can you guess what she was up to?


The advent of camera phones has made taking pictures easy and accessible. No need to bring your digital camera or your bulky DLSR to capture cherished moments with other people, and precious moments with your own self – the selfie! 

This is not to mention the advent of internet-ready phones, which allows us to upload and share photos on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram conveniently and instantly.

Narcissistic?

I am amused with people on Facebook who constantly post pictures of themselves. Others find it as narcissistic though.  But let us not take things too seriously here. This is a free country anyway, unless a lawmaker who has ran out of better ideas will propose a bill that will ban the taking of selfies – both individual and group.

WHO DID IT FIRST?

Perhaps, a selfie is a form of validation that one either looks good, or has overwhelming confidence (if quite deficient in the looks department). It can be both too and such combination can generate numerous likes from your friends, and can even be shared by them as well.

Can we not just be all proud of our modern human form, since this is a living proof that Neanderthal looks are already a thing of the past?

Is it ethical?

People who love taking selfies find immense joy and pleasure in it. Whatever gives you pleasure is morally good according to proponents of Hedonism - an ethical theory of which the moral norm is the pursuance of pleasure, and eradication of pain. 

Pleasure, however, is highly subjective, for it varies from one person to the next. For example, smoking is pleasurable for smokers, but definitely not for the non-smokers (logically speaking). Texting is pleasurable for me, but it could be the other way around for you. In other words, to each his or her own. 


What is pleasurable for me, may not be pleasurable to you.

Thus, for all the selfie addicts out there, for those who cannot transcend to the next minute of their lives without taking the selfie, what you are doing is actually morally good based on Hedonistic principles.

So pause for a moment, and take another selfie. Do what gives you pleasure. To begin with, we all have one life to live and cherish so let us make the most out of it.

Click!

Is it bothersome?

There is a universal saying which goes by the thought that anything in excess is already not good. But this rule of course, does not apply to all the selfie devotees out there. As long as they have a phone and internet connection, then there is no any other recourse for us but to expect that they will do it over and over again - come hell or high water.

But should we be bothered? 

I hope not. Let us just respect their autonomy as individuals. Can we provide them with the same amount and kind of joy that selfies bring to them? You know that the answer is in the negative. After all, it is not our time and energy that they are making the most of. And also, nobody is obliging us to stare at their self-portrait photographs. If you are sick and tired of them, then all you have to do is scroll down, down, and down. 

Many of you are annoyed by it, I know. But let us constantly remind ourselves that they are just exercising their freedom to do what makes them happy, in the same way that we also utilize our own freedom to make ourselves happy, and that what they are doing does not have any bearing whatsoever on the way we live our lives (except for some occasional frowns I guess).

To conclude

It is clear in my head that you too take pics using your phone, right? Maybe not a selfie, but perhaps an interesting food or dessert, your cute dog, your OOTD (outfit of the day), your adorable baby, your newly painted nails, or just about anything that catches your fancy.

I am very sure that selfie addicts out there won’t mind if such things make you happy. So let us reciprocate by allowing them too to do what makes them happy.

Let us just be all happy for one another. 

Click! Click! Click!