Although it's also tangential to the essay, which is about the mechanisation of self-image - not just sell-worth, but identity in general.
Which has always been socially imposed (even on those who are sure they're different). But now it can be directed algorithmically by a very small number of actors, who have the power to apply behaviour and value modification tools that can be individually tailored for everyone in a demographic - in ways which most people aren't even aware of.
"Low self-esteem" is just one the effects.
I had it from childhood to a much larger extent than any of my peers, even though it diminished as I grew older.
Part of it I think is blows to my self-confidence, part is that when you have casual light social connections (school, the in-person workplace, I now wfh) you get this sense of people pseudo-caring about you.
But once that wanes (age and wfh) and you have you put effort into getting even the smallest amount of care from others. Which, in turn requires vulnerability.
I think you are conflating a lack of need for validation and the ability to self-validate.
It’s not that you don’t need any validation, it’s that you have the ability to provide yourself with the validation you need.
Don’t take that for granted. It’s both something to be proud of and a reminder that you aren’t so different from others.
One thing that I have struggled with in relationships is that others need to feel validated, that their decisions are rational and that other people believe that they are rational. Stimulus from the outside to satisfy the inside.
What makes this difficult for me is that I don’t need to feel validated, I am comfortable with my own decisions in life and do not need someone else to approve. I think this ties into self worth which seems to be related to people’s perception of their actions and the approval they see from others. If you do not need external validation then you are not concerned about peoples perception of you and therefore self worth is a foreign concept.