An Army Of One Me Analysis

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When it comes to individual matters, most human beings tend to act selfishly since their instincts tell them to do so. As a popular science author, Steven Johnson argues for the kind of organization which involves “intelligence and personality and learning that emerges from the bottom up” (194) through the study of artificial intelligence as an example of self-organized individuals working jointly in his article “The Myth if the Ant Queen.” In a like manner, the author of “The Mega-Marketing of Depression in Japan”, American journalist Ethan Watters describes how different countries, in this case Japan and America, view depression and how they tend to deal with the effects of depression in his article. He mentions “how cultures shape the …show more content…
What is more, the author of “An Army of One: Me”, Jean Twenge, who is a psychologist professor at San Diego State University, examines the Generation Me and how they act with self-esteem under multiple circumstances. As described, Generation Me focus on their individual needs as “a way of moving through the world beholden to few social rules and with the unshakable belief that you’re important” (491) which affects how they behave. Generation Me grew up being taught the importance of having self-esteem all the time and they all tend to behave like that. All of three authors mention different individuals facing various situations and still managing to keep the focus on themselves. Although three authors might have diverse understandings of the word selfhood, yet that concept turns out to be beneficial under different circumstances. As mentioned by Watters, Johnson as well as Twenge, the sense of selfhood encourages individuals to act on their own interests, focusing on self improvements as well as realization of authentic selves in larger …show more content…
Watters mentions that a word association test conducted by Junko Tanaka-Matsumi in which she asked a group of American college students and a group of Japanese students what words they connected with the word “depression.” The test results were very different. It turns out that “feelings that Americans associate with depression have, in Japan, been tapped up in a variety of cultural narratives that altered their meaning and the subjective experience from the individual” (522). Compared to Japanese culture, Americans view depression as a relatively common feeling or mental sickness. People treat depression like a normal cold, while Japanese would never do the same. The general public in Japan tend to have a negative perception regarding depression and they usually connect depressed feelings with environment or social contexts. On the other hand, American culture associates depression with more individual feelings. When it comes to depression or anxiety, it is all about that person oneself, not how the surroundings have shaped that individual. American people emphasize the sense of selfhood. When having that in mind, Americans feel more comfortable taking antidepressants medicine or do to doctors. Also, the knowledge of depression and