Let’s unpack postmodernity. Whenever I use this term, I’m referring to a specific phenomenon that’s visible both in culture at large and in ourselves. To understand postmodernism, we'll focus on its defining features.
One key component is its transcendence of modernity – hence the name. In a cultural sense, postmodern items legitimately transcend modern ones. For individuals, parts of our identity do the same.
There’s a realisation of the limitations of modern values, trends and systems. Right now, trends like capitalism, materialism, consumerism, industry, modern education, science and digital entertainment fall under modernity. At postmodernity, both individually and collectively, we become aware of the limits of them, and begin to look beyond.
But let’s not limit postmodernism just to its transcendence of modernity. It also adds novelty to human life. Themes like multiculturalism, relativism, minority rights and eco movements fall under postmodernity.
Let’s turn to what postmodernity means for us as individuals, since that’s the focus of this site. As I’ll discuss in the next post, postmodernism is not just cultural, political and technological, it is psychological. In fact, postmodernism is a level of human psychology discussed in many developmental theories, such as Spiral Dynamics. Let’s look at what being postmodern looks like in first-person. As I describe it, look for it in yourself.
Entering postmodernity signifies a huge shift in our lives. Before it, we’re embedded in modernity: our values derive from modern culture, we strive for mainstream outcomes, and we put modern life on a pedestal. At postmodernity, we look down on it from a platform and can question it. We’re in the world but not of it. This is unsettling and freeing at the same time.
We’re forced to deeply examine all of our motivations, decisions and beliefs up to this point, in the knowledge that we were living our lives through modern assumptions and in the context of Western culture. We question our career, friends and life choices. Even our family may look radically different to us. We might become aware of just how programmed they are!
There are some markers of this stage in our personal life. I don’t want to fall into generalisations or pigeon-holing, but I’ll give some common “side effects” that will help you understand this phase and identify it for yourself.
Often we enter this stage when we realise we’ve been running on the striving treadmill and become aware of the hollowness of materialism, so we start to slow down and live in the present. We let go of our goal-orientation and replace it with spirituality. We become more self-aware, seek deep connection with others and get in touch with our emotions.
Dysfunctional habits such as drinking, poor diet, social media and pornography are replaced by whole foods, yoga and spiritual books. We become much more individualistic, in the sense that we go on a hunt for authenticity and passion free of the restraints of society, becoming almost indignant in our quest for individual expression.
To get a crystal-clear idea of what this looks like in practice, continue to my next post, where I share my own experience.
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