Singers Justin Bieber, 16, and Rihanna, 22, at The 53rd Annual Grammy Awards. Their musical achievements early in life fuel fears of failure in others.

A generation ago young people aspired to become lawyers and doctors. Now they yearn to be the next Oscar winner or celebrity pop star.

But one university psychologist has warned this is wreakinghavocwith our self-image and underminingour sense of self-worth.

Over recent years people around the world have been suffering from an increasing fear of their own ’insignificance’, according to Dr Carlo Strenger of Tel Aviv University.

He began an interdisciplinary project on the phenomenon 10 years ago, after noticing a surge of this fear in his own patients. His findings, presented in a new book, notes hundreds of research projects that have charted an unprecedented increase in levels of anxiety and depression.

By using a wide-ranging framework Dr Strenger thinks he has pinpointedthe cause. ’The impact of the global infotainmentnetwork on the individual is to blame,’ he said.

’A new species is born: homo globalis - global man - and we are defined by our intimate connection to the global infotainment network, which has turned ranking and rating people on scales of wealth and celebrity into an obsession.’

As humans we naturally measure ourselves to those around us, but now we live in a ’global village’ we are comparing ourselves with the most ’significant’ people in the world - and finding ourselves wanting.

Today, even high achievers constantly fear that they are insignificant when they compare themselves to success stories in the media ’This creates highly unstable self-esteem and an unstable society,’ Dr Strenger said.

Instead, Dr Strenger says people should stop measuring their achievement through cultural fantasies of riches and celebrity, which cannot lead to fulfillment.

The remedy is a process that he calls ’active self-acceptance’ through a sustainedquest for self-knowledge through life.

The fear of insignificance can only be overcome through strong individual and cultural identity over and above measurable achievement. He believes that people need to invest as much time in developing their worldviewsas their careers.

’Stable meaning cannot be found in cheap paperbacks. People should invest time and thought to their worldviews and self-understanding in the same way they invest in medical studies and law school,’ Dr Strenger advises.

(Read by Lee Hannon. Lee Hannon is a journalist at the China Daily Website.)

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(Agencies)

三十年前，年轻人都渴望成为律师或者医生。现在的年轻人则梦想成为下一位奥斯卡奖得主或成为流行歌星。

但是一位大学心理学家警告说，这种名人崇拜将会严重干扰我们对自我形象的认识、破坏我们的自我价值感。

特拉维夫大学的卡罗 斯特兰博士说，近年来，世界各地的人们越来越忧心地感觉到自己的渺小。

十年之前，当斯特兰博士发现他的病人中有越来越多的人陷入对自身渺小的忧虑之后，他就该现象展开了一个跨学科研究项目。他分析了上百个研究项目之后发现，人们的焦虑和抑郁水平都在以前所未有的速度上升。这一研究成果发表在他的新书上。

通过这一涉及多个领域、涵盖面很广的研究，斯特兰博士认为他已经发现了导致该现象的原因。他说：“全球化的资讯娱乐网络对个人的影响是罪魁祸首。”

“一个新物种——世界人——诞生了。作为这一新物种，我们的身份贵贱取决于我们与全球资讯娱乐网络的关系亲疏。在这一网络的影响下，我们按财富和知名度给人们划分等级，并沉迷于其中。”

斯特兰博士说，作为人类，我们自然而然地会和身边的人做比较。但是现在我们住在了“地球村”，我们比较的对象是全世界最受关注的人，这样一对比就发现了自己的不足。

如今，即使是那些成就卓越的人也会经常觉得自己跟媒体描述的成功人士比起来显得渺小，斯特兰博士说，“这种渺小的感觉导致了极度脆弱的自尊和不稳定的社会。”

斯特兰博士认为，人们不应该用那些富豪和名人的文化传奇作基准来衡量自己的成就，这种比较并不会使他们获得成功。

斯特兰博士说，人们可以通过一个他称之为“积极自我接纳”的过程来治疗这种“渺小恐惧症”。“积极自我接纳”是一个在生活中不断地发现自我的过程。

这种“渺小恐惧症”只能通过超脱于有限的个人成就的强烈的个人和文化认同感来克服。斯特兰博士认为，人们应该花费和发展职业同样多的时间来培养他们的世界观。

斯特兰博士建议说：“廉价的平装书中很难有真知，人们应该拿出他们学习医学和法学的时间和思想来培养他们的世界观和自我认知。”

Vocabulary:

wreak: to do great damage or harm to somebody/something 造成（巨大的破坏或伤害）

havoc: a situation in which there is a lot of damage, destruction or disorder（大损坏；大破坏；浩劫）

undermine: to make something, especially somebody’s confidence or authority, gradually weaker or less effective 逐渐削弱（信心、权威等）；使逐步减少效力

insignificance: 微不足道；无足轻重

pinpoint: to be able to give the exact reason for something or to describe something exactly 准确解释（或说明）

infotainment: television programmes, etc. that present news and serious subjects in an entertaining way（资讯娱乐节目）

sustained: continuing for an extended period（持久的；持续的）

worldview: a particular philosophy of life or conception of the world（世界观）