Since one of my self-assigned tasks is dissecting Contrarian strategies for derailing constructive dialogue,
I can’t pass up the opportunity that came knocking on my door this morning.
You Narcissist.
Of course first one must ask, is the term being used descriptively or rhetorically?
Is the intention tactical, that is intended to throw-off and emotionally immobilize one’s ‘opponent’? Or is it an objective descriptive?
For instance,
"USA's President Trump is a narcissist because he believes the world revolves around him and that make's it okay for him to misrepresent reality on a daily basis."
That would be a descriptive even with my bias, because it simply relays facts based on observations, observations that are there for all to see, if they care to focus a little.
On the other hand, we are all biological beings. All our perceptions and experiences are filtered through our body and its needs. Self-preservation is the name of the game. I am the most important thing in the world because I is all there is for me experiencing life, when this physical being is gone, I am gone.
Living with that internal necessary self-centeredness is part of every living thing - territorial imperative and desperate will to survive, thrive and make babies and all that - or we simply don’t survive.
An attentive, introspective life is of necessity self-centered, but its the self-centeredness of a cell that aware that it is a part of a much larger community, one that we really ought to also get to know. It shouldn’t be mistaken with narcissism.
I thought about asking if the person meant as teasing or if s/he was trying push your buttons, but decided to leave it alone and see how it panned out before saying anything.
CC-v.3 said; An attentive, introspective life is of necessity self-centered, but its the self-centeredness of a cell that aware that it is a part of a much larger community, one that we really ought to also get to know. It shouldn’t be mistaken with narcissism.
I always liked the concept of symbiosis, where each species is dependent on another species for survival. This arrangement is usually beneficial to both species.
Witness the symbiotic relationship between the honey-bee and flowering plants. Not only are they dependent on each other, but about 70 percent of all herbivores are dependent on that arrangement as well. That’s power.
Strangely, the human biome consists of about 10% human cells and 90% bacterial cells. Without the bacteria we humans could not exist. Oddly almost no one is aware of this symbiotic arrangement between man and bacteria, which I find almost incomprehensible.
Narcissism is almost always parasitic and very dangerous. It breeds invasive species, which kill everything around them, just like people do.
