How does one engage in collective consciousness?
Andrew Cohen: Well, the- I think initially one has to really begin by beginning to think about the nature of the self as it relates to the whole concept of deep time. Generally speaking, when the postmodern self thinks about his or her own identity we tend to think of our own experience in terms that are incredibly personal, incredibly small. We relate to the whole notion of history usually in relationship to our own personal life experience and we tend to over-exaggerate the significance of our own personality shall I say. I don’t want it to sound the wrong way but there is a- at this particular time it seems that most of the luckiest people in the world are suffering from a cultural epidemic which is called extreme narcissism, which is an exaggerated self-importance which is really a cultural problem more than it is a personal problem. And the extreme narcissism, the exaggerated sense of self-concern, makes it very difficult for us to really begin to see and feel beyond the boundarie
