In the 1950s, a Gallup poll asked high school seniors if they considered themselves to be a very important person. Just 12 percent said yes. When the same question was asked 50 years later, 80 percent of students said they think they are very important. In a new book, columnist David Brooks explores this broad cultural shift toward inflated self worth. He argues that a central fallacy of modern life is that focus on one’s own importance and success leads to happiness and a meaningful life. Brooks argues instead that in order to have a truly fulfilling life, you must learn how to forget yourself.