Nowadays, everyone seems to be promoting the idea of being special.  We are all special in some way and we all need recognition for being special.  We need our fifteen minutes of fame.  Our moment in the spotlight.
    We have seen some examples in recent months of the strange, weird, and sometimes horrific things people will do to get that fifteen minutes.  That alone should be a wake-up call to the schools and psychologists promoting this self esteem "I'm Special" philosophy.  
    No matter how much the educators deny it, teaching people to be "Special" is telling them they are better than others and that means being separate from others.  And being separate means you are not part of the whole. 
    Spiritual people have long accepted that being part of the whole, part of the One, is more important than individuality.  Like the cells of our physical body, their importance is their contribution to the good of the whole body.  With people, our contribution to society and to the human race is more important than satisfying every individual whim and desire of our ego.  It's not just a matter of being selfish, it's also foolish because we are not separate.  Separation is illusion.  We are all connected and when we harm others, we harm ourselfs because
we are all connected.  It's like a dog bitting his own tail.
    Quantum mechanics recognizes this connectedness which they call "entanglement".  This connectedness not only benefits the whole, but also benefits the individual.  The ego doesn't see it that way because it wants to be separate and be a victim.  It is up to us to get over this and become functioning parts of the One.