ABSTRACT
Pomophobia, when defined as a fearful reaction to the sort of postmodern situation envisaged, could easily be understood. For, as the official report went on to explain, old-fashioned ‘modern’ attitudes, such as ‘respect for authority, support for the family and allegiance to large institutions’, were ‘in terminal decline’. They had been replaced by ‘a belief in self-expression, creativity and individual value systems’. And while there were clearly some advantages in those novelties, the corresponding dangers were all too obvious. People were likely to ‘become less deferential to institutions such as Parliament and the courts’, and indeed to lack any sense of national identity. And, perhaps most significantly of all, people would lack any moral framework, or any ‘clear template’; and without that, they were in danger of making ‘inappropriate choices’, or of being so ‘overwhelmed by choice’ as to ‘feel unable to cope’.
