@trumanity,

Hey Tru.

I have observed a worrying tendency - maybe more so on some sites than others. A sort of social pressure toward mediocrity. We are made to feel we have to follow the crowd in whatever it is saying and however it is saying it, 'bruh'. Don't be more articulate, don't spell words correktly - cause we all sayin the same thing anyway, or be criticised for ones own ideas - 'your too old-school and too rigid or toxic', because I have strung together a clear line of reasoniing.

I have observed the same phenomenon. I have a theory: It's not mediocrity per se, rather mediocrity is a symptom of something more fundamental.

My theory is that it is all part the "ME Obsession" with which sociologists are becoming increasingly concerned:

I'm so special and you have to accept me as I am. I don't have to conform to any standards. My incorrect spelling is as good as your correct spelling. Indeed, who's to say my words are even misspelled? Why should I have to conform to a dictionary ... I've made my own. No Rulers, No Rules. I don't have to use logic because my Truth is as valid as a thousand contradictory studies from Harvard. Reality ... is what I say it is.

We are individuals ... but we are also intensely, even pathetically, social animals. The two create a conflict ... and a balance must be struck. In modern western culture, the imbalance has become extreme in favor of individualism. Even the idea of the fundamental unit of social organization, the nuclear family, has been shredded.

Too much "Me" and not enough "We."

No willingness to self-sacrifice for the good of the group. This is my fear for Steemit ... the people in charge won't deny any of their own short-term self-interests for the long-term good of the group (and themselves). Every other time in history when this has occurred, it has presaged the demise of the nation or empire. Rome is an excellent example.

Quill