There are some great responses here. Macre's response above ^^^^ is what I resonate with most. I think the whole "hippy" movement of today is a most patent example of vanity.

This is the problem I see with this sort of vanity. It is like this red herring that detracts from the actual message or movement of something... the vain people are ruining the credibility.

My old roomate, X, encapsulated these traits to such a degree that it truly blows my mind. I am talking narcissistic, megalomaniac, jesus-complex level self-obsession. From my observation, it had everything to do with an underlying belief that he was the greatest thing anyone had ever seen before.

As E.G. was saying, sometimes it can be easy to project your own shortcomings onto other people. This was NOT the case here.

The only place my roomie would ever hang out with anybody at was his room. The thing was, his room was basically just a shrine of himself. He is an artist of the # spiritual sort. You know, third eye and the flower of life etc. His room probably contained, in a conservative guess, about 80 peices of his own art.

This might not be bad in and of itself, but the thing is with X is that THE ONLY THING HE WILL LITERALLY OPEN HIS MOUTH TO TALK ABOUT IS HIS ART. EVERY SINGLE TIME I CHILLED WITH HIM (and we lived in this house for a whole year), he would grab copies of several peices of his art, and ask me to give a detailed evaluation of them. When several people were over, just trying to party, he would do the same. It always turned into an awkwardly forced art critique. This wouldn't even necessarily be bad either, but he wasn't doing it for critical feedback. NONE of his friends knew anything about art. When it wasn't "tell X that his art rocks" time, he would talk about everything he did the last summer in alaska, and scroll through some of his tens of thousands (I'm dead serious) of pictures of him in alaska, explaining in detail exactly what was going on that day.

He was infamous around campus for being "the longboard kid".... he had this flashy, attention-grabbing, neon-colored, dayglo, #trippy longboard that he rode any time he was going anywhere. He wore similarly flashy clothes. He frequently talked about DMT to his narcissistic supply... cough I mean friends... but despite NUMEROUS free offers to try it, adamantly declined.

I love that test of Annies. I used it once on him. Being so #spiritual, one day I asked X what spirituality meant to him.

His reply? "Basically, we are all one"

(Tremendously sorry for that rant)

He had no message, and this is the problem with vanity. "Please don't dominate the rap, jack, if you've got nothin' new to say" - Grateful Dead, New Speedway Boogie

"A red rose absorbs all of the colors but red, therefore red is the one color it is not" - Aleister Crowley. In my experience, there is a lot of truth to this quote. Whenever you see vanity, you've got to wonder: WHAT psychological need is this person fulfilling by obviously drawing attention to themselves? Usually, I think it is just have others have said... compensation. They need other people to acknowledge something about them.


If you've got something new and interesting to say...... Vanity is a good thing!!!! Look at David Bowie, Kanye West, Prince (RIP) etc. These guys were vain as all heck but they had a real message. The vanity helped them reach more people. And sometimes it is just fun and harmless to be vain!!!

I think that with vanity, context is everything.

Wow, what you say really strikes me. What a fantastic response.

To which I would ask, what is the actual message of the movement?


Imagine a planet in which every individual is so self-actualised as to emanate a Jesus complex, would we not all be equal in that respect?


To an artist, all is art.
Luckily this was only a dormmate and not a friend.

hmm. I forgot all about the physical aspect. And I suppose it could be argued that that is the primary utility for 'vanity', as in vanity mirror.

When he said vain, I thought more along the lines of people who seem permanently limited in scope and circumference, in how they and their peers ought to portray themselves in terms of language choice, group mentality, grave generalizations, behavior, preferences etc. It follows that this is most pronounced in young adults and 20-somethings. It is a survival tactic to blend in, in order to belong, in order to garner as much support and resource and stimulus as humanly possible. That should be considered normal, even if some of us aren't so keen on it (me).

But vanity as in bone structure? and what does it mean, philosophically? hmm. It is said that the greek sculpter, Phidias, possessed a manual for beauty. And whether it was filled with arithmetic or with sketches or with poetry, you might just as well have called him vain. For being so meticulous in his work. Lord knows, maybe he thought he was god.

You could analyze the beat-inspired counterculture of the 60's and early 70's and come up with a lot of cultural ideals that were integral to the movement. IMO, the hippy movement at its core was about questioning authority of all sorts and re-evaluating our connection with nature.

The reason I think the hippy movement today (festies) got it wrong is manifold. For starters, it is largely capitalistic; most of the activities in that whole sphere revolve around buying tickets, buying dope t-shirts, buying hats, buying pins. Don't misunderstand me, everyone has to make a living, and lots of people feel great about buying things from local artists. This is a neat aspect.

It's just so.... homogenized? It's like everyone is swallowing the same dogma. They all like the same exact music. They all vaguely reference botched astrology. They all are crazy about Bernie Sanders. They have totally unbased conspiracy theories. They reject GMO's and anything else "not natural" and then passionately consume all drugs they can from a random stranger.

The point is, they aren't really questioning or changing anything. They are appealing to authority and regurgitating the same failed movement. To be what I would coin a REAL hippy is to question ALL authority; not just the authority you're already supposed to be against.

That's just a pretty cover for the Nuevo Movimiento happening in the lounge rooms and garages of the future leaders in technology, science, psychology, sociology etc. Right now these people are drinking and smoking and eating plants, shaping their attitudes towards themselves and the planet, all the while not necessarily succumbing to "hippification". One can remain objective right up until the launch, without falling for the lifestyle that many of us have sustained and built around these plants.
We livin' in the Renaissance baby.

You haven't questioned any authority until you've questioned your own authority.

Otherwise, you're not questioning authority, only whose authority.

ya but some stuff like the wheel, and fire, and sex, and basic cleanliness,
has been figured out by ancient wise men last year.
^thats where hippies fall off the wagon /lose WIFI and miss the text memo.

when all your doing is stinking the place up with questions,
ya have to ask how sane it all is.

and isnt the ultimate vanity of insanity to expect the rest of us to tolerate it?

Are you questioning the sanity of it all?

^its my very first question.

and the answer is never good.
from that point, its about damage control and avoiding biohazards.

dont have time to be a vain hippie type.

I think your attractive dreadlocked acquaintance may not be the only one putting on spiritual airs here.

I googled vanity and was met with 2 definitions:

I suspect the latter definition may indicate some clues as to the basis of the behavior illustrated in the former.

Some excellent responses here.



I think you misunderstand me. I relinquished all negativity a long time ago. Since then, I really haven't gotten angry, jealous, arrogant or vain. At all. Psychs showed me the way. All I had to do was walk in that direction. Of course, the way is fraught with many roadblocks, such as these negative attitudes. Instead of charging through them and hoping I destroy them, I want to know what it is. That way, I can walk past it without burning myself out. I'm in it for the long run. That's why I started this thread. It's a roadblock I want to understand. Same thing with the Human Sexual Behaviour thread. And instead of being greeted by interesting thoughts and questions (which came after a page or two), I was reprimanded for using a person as an example, even though my intention was not to judge that individual. It was about the concept, and inviting others to share their thoughts on the matter.

I just try to live my life. Am I spiritual? I don't know. I don't know ANYTHING any more. That's the conclusion I came to from my journeys into the mind. I don't put on any airs. I just try to be as honest as I possibly can.

I feel like an outcast in this community of outcasts. Maybe I haven't found my community. It could be time to walk the road alone.

I think you've fooled yourself hook, line, and sinker. But hey, whatever suits you...

Which part?

No amount of words can adequately describe what goes in my mind. No amount of words can adequately describe what goes in anyones mind.

i suspect an imposter has seized control of bods acct.

Sometimes I think: "Let us all meet in real life, get in real contact, drop some whatever or nothing, whatever everybody is up to, and have a lot of fun." [For example BOOM festival in portugal, topic: shamanism ]

Holies and sinners, buddhas and vains, all one, one big illusion.

I am all in, knowing nothing but ready to find out, now.

All the best, I love you, tseuq

[Let's open our cages by droping every last assumption, expectation, definition of what and how ever I am and what and how ever I am not and let us see that we are all of that and not.]

^^^^^^^^^^^^