Time For Weirdos - Society

In one American comedy, two youthful cops go to school disguised as teenagers. Once they themselves studied in the same class and were implacable enemies: one - macho, and the other - "nerd". They had to go through a shock: over the past few years, the priorities of schoolchildren have completely changed, now the macho does not enjoy any popularity, and the once downtrodden smart guy with glasses, on the contrary, is interesting to everyone.

NEW HEROES

This happened imperceptibly - but it became obvious literally in the last decade: a new hero of our time has appeared. Man, frankly, is not without oddities. He does not understand the unwritten rules of communication, he has bizarre interests, often a funny voice or manner of speech, sometimes he has an enviable memory, is fond of comics, role-playing games, sprinkles facts, or, conversely, you cannot get a word out of him. He - or she - often has a brilliant intellect that does not extend to social life, their thinking is often outside the box, and communication with a large number of people causes them fatigue and burnout. Suspicious and anxious, amazingly naive or distrustful, shy or arrogant, they have some subtle similarities among themselves.

EVERYONE IS INTERESTED IN SHIZOIDS

In one of the most popular TV series - "The Big Bang Theory" - all heroes, with rare exceptions, belong to this type, and with all the difference in manifestations they have in common what psychology calls "schizoid accentuation" or "schizoid". Once machos and bullies in their class took breakfast from them and practiced wit, ridiculing their oddities, but today they are successful engineers and scientists, and previously annoying oddities cause affection instead of irritation in viewers of the series. If earlier a schizoid hero could, at best, be a fool, like Shurik from “The Caucasian Captive”, in modern cinema, autistic and eccentric heroes are increasingly becoming central characters and have a special charm and attractiveness. Such as the brilliant and autistic Sherlock Holmes in a new interpretation or as an unsociable but brilliant heroine of the TV series "Bones". Is it possible at all to say that there is a "fashionable accentuation", namely, at certain times, people with certain neuroses appear and become masters of minds,character traits? Can we talk about the "disease of the century"? And why today is precisely the schizoid accentuation found to be so in demand and arousing interest?

THREE HEADS SNAKE

Therapist Daniil Khlomov put forward an interesting concept, according to which each of us has three essential needs and each is served by a certain structure of his psyche. He compares them with the three heads of the Serpent Gorynych and says that, depending on the current need, we "talk" with others using one or another head.

"I WANT TO BE LOVED"

This "head" manifests the need for love and connection with other people. In its pathological expression, such a need can lead to addiction, neuroses and hysteria - because for many, the desire to receive love and not lose connection generates childish defensive behavior. But in moderation, it is associated with strong attachment, friendly or artistic demeanor. Demonstrative, affective behavior can mean: "hear me and love when I behave badly" - and it happens that not only children, but also adults test the strength of the love of their significant loved ones. Daniil Khlomov proposes to call this head hysteroid or neurotic (although from the point of view of terms both names are not very accurate, they could not come up with another). People who interact with the world primarily through this head can be fascinating or annoying.

"I CAN EVERYTHING"

This head talks about our need to compete and win, meet our ambitions, influence other people and achieve our goals. In extreme cases, it can give rise to a cold manipulator, which skillfully evokes admiration or fear among others. This "head" can be called "narcissistic", but in a moderate version it encourages us to develop and improve, take on big tasks and generally show our talents.

"I AM ME"

The third head expresses the need for self-identity. "I am separate from other people, I need solitude and time for myself, I am not like everyone else, I have my own rich inner world." This head thinks so actively that sometimes it does not notice its own feelings. She is prone to introversion and seclusion, and the outside world often seems to her unsafe and unpredictable. This is the "schizoid" part of our psyche. For the high speed of the "processor" she has to pay with voltage and constant control, which exhaust and lead to a shortage of resources. But at the same time, it is this part that is capable of thinking outside the box and in creativity does not depend on the opinions of others.

CONDITION OF SURVIVAL

If you look at the history of European culture over the past 150 years, you will notice that at different times this or that head of Gorynych sounded louder. The turn of the 19th and 20th centuries was the beginning of psychotherapy in its current form, and mainly the patients of therapists were hysterics and neurotics. By the era before the First World War, this need was expressed in "decadence" with its cult of free love, theatricality, affect. In addition, survival depended on personal connections between people.

BEST OR NOBODY

But in the first half of the 20th century, the voice of the era changed its timbre. From the thirties to the end of the century, mankind increasingly fell under the rule of narcissistic tendencies - fascism with its idea of racial superiority became their most ugly and ultimate expression. But even at the level of personal aspirations, the Europeans strove for competition and personal success. Even the ideas of communism and socialism did not interrupt this need for individual competition. Whole generations have grown up with the "you have to become the best, otherwise you are nobody" attitude. Trainings and sects, messianism and seminars "How to make people act in your interests" supported the culture of consumption, because everyone wanted to get everything new and better. Narcissism combines great passion and a deep inner emptiness, perfectionism and a terrible dependence on the opinions of others. Narcissists have powerful charisma and, due to this, great strength,without this force, it is impossible to build anything large-scale, and thanks to it, the 20th century was marked by amazing projects, huge construction projects and industrial flourishing.

WONDERS IN TREND

Can we say that schizoids who have replaced narcissists are a response wave, when instead of the unattainable goal of “being the best” a person chooses to be himself? When instead of a brilliant career and resting on our laurels, there is a desire to simply follow your hobbies. Quite possible. Indeed, even the hipster subculture, which has spilled over into the youth urban fashion, adopts and imitates the image of a "schizoid". The hipster is bearded like a nessed sysadmin, wears a plaid shirt outside like an absent-minded scientist, wears glasses like Shurik's, and a superhero T-shirt like a comic book fanatic. And all this under the slogan "Be yourself"!

But another, no less important reason is the technological revolution. It is not surprising that it was the meticulous schizoid techies, who think outside the box, but inclined to formalize ideas, who built and led today's kingdom of computers. It was they who found themselves on the "you" with artificial intelligence, and gradually a real gray cardinal in any company became a system administrator who possesses a sacred knowledge of the work of the system. Without it, the efforts of entire teams can go down the drain. Even any narcissist boss is dependent on programmers.

THE ENVIRONMENT TO BECOME A HERO

Schizoids not only created computers and provided them with their own logic - the entire Internet culture has become a convenient environment for them. The ability to choose the amount of communication, for example, helps to maintain exactly those social connections that are needed. Today, more and more people are showing introversion with dignity. The penchant for role-playing and childish spontaneity in general influences the corporate identity of corporations like Google, where employees can play cars or ride from floor to floor on plastic pipes, if only it helps them create. Therefore, the heroes of our time are typical "nerds" - the founder of Microsoft Bill Gates, the creators of Macintosh Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, the owner of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg. The world is looking more closely at everyone, accepting and appreciating individuality, and instead of ridiculing limitations, it helps eccentrics to show strengths.