Irish Examiner view: We live in the century of the self

Airport drones 

Flying a drone near an airport is both 'incredibly selfish' and illegal — and yet some persist in doing it. File picture: Tobias Schwarz/AFP/Getty

The importance of self-validation seems to be everywhere in our age of unbridled solipsism. One’s personal experience takes precedence over all other considerations, and at times the primacy of the self seems so overpowering as to be a catch-all explanation for every behaviour imaginable.

The parallel capacity to shut out the importance of shared responsibilities was seen to sharp effect this week at Dublin Airport. It is illegal to fly a drone within 5km of an airport, yet this week flights have been disrupted due to a drone being operated in the vicinity of the airport runway.

This is dangerous and expensive, but was the retired Air Corps lieutenant colonel who described the behaviour as “incredibly selfish” wide of the mark?

 It seems incredibly typical, if anything. The mindset of a person who insists on indulging in a hobby while inconveniencing thousands of innocent people by disrupting their travel plans is one shared, unfortunately, by many others.

A floral tribute on a bridge over the River Wyre in Lancashire near where Nicola Bulley's body was found. Locals say they have seen people, some with children in tow, taking macabre selfies at the scene. Picture: Dave Nelson/PA

A more sinister version of this mindset could be seen in the case of Nicola Bulley, whose body was recovered from the River Wye in England earlier this week. 

Local residents reported people arriving at the location where Ms Bulley was last seen, sometimes with children in tow, to take selfies.

A digital media expert from the Royal Society testifying before a House of Commons committee this week suggested that those taking selfies might want “personal validation” from being seen at the site, or they could simply be “trying to make money from clicks”. 

The idea that someone would try to monetise a family tragedy such as this is revolting.

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The idea that a person would need the validation of a selfie at such a location is equally revolting. Unfortunately, it seems likely to become ever more familiar in our century of the self.