HIGH COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT COUPLED WITH EMOTIONAL NARCISSISM by Microsoft Windows NT

I could probably say that the title of this entry accurately describes a good number of the women I've dated as well as a lot of people I've been in group therapy with. But it's actually the definition of Boomeritis, a behaviorial and literary term Ken Wilber attributed to a generation who believes that whatever it thinks, says or acts upon is, in every way and form, the cutting edge of human existance. In it's smug, self-congratulatory ego stance, Boomeritis stesses that serious individual pursuits such as cultivating spiritual depth as well as a focused spiritual practice can be avoided. I also have the impression that the term envelopes just enough pseudo-buddhist psycho-crap to be "dangerous;" that is, manipulative and deluded with a cheap excuse to have bad manners. Anyway, this video is Spiritual Leader Andrew Cohen giving a lecture on "Boomeritis."

If you want to get down to brass tacks we can say that Boomeritis is most accurately defined as a pathological state of consciousness characterized by relativism, narcissism, and an aversion to hierarchy. Consider, if you will, about the elimination of standards. Why have tryouts for the school football team? Just let anyone who wants to play, play. To hell with individual ability. Then see the hemorraging of the athletic department and call it the natural order of things (or maybe even "God's Will"). Consider the term "political correctness;" a term about as oxymoronic as "Living Dead,""Head Butt" or "Microsoft Works." I don't want to get into this one, although I will say that TIME Magazine designating a "Person" of the year, as opposed to a "Man, Woman or Child" of the year is like diluting the estrogen and testosterone levels of Americans with flouride. Maybe General Jack Ripper was onto something after all.

Somewhere in the middle of all this is a sociological theory called "Spiral Dynamics" that consists of societal groups and behaviors labeled by colors that have absolutely nothing to do with one's aura. It is an intriguing theory, based on the work of Don Beck and Clare Graves that shows Boomeritis (and probably autoerotic asphyxiation) bursting forth like a pus-filled boil somewhere in the Spiral Dynamic Meme labeled Green.

While we can designate it as a pathology or weirdass mood swing, Boomeritis is also the name of a novel by Wilber about a student whose quest for higher consciousness leads him to the warm, fuzzy land of self-absorption and narcissism.

The above video is fascinating as it portrays Boomeritis as one of the pitfalls on the road to those two overused, least understood states of consciousness, enlightenment and liberation. More on those in later posts. And while a lot of people find Cohen to be rude, abrupt and impatient, he probably describes the "disease" of Boomeritis a hell of lot better than anyone, with the possible exception of Wilber.