Are all narcissists that bad?

(By Hella Ahmed) Predators don’t change; they adapt to scenarios to appear clean, but we can see through their game because they’ve done it before. They don’t renew their tactics! Anyway, some people will argue that using the term « narcissist » as an insult isn’t fair because narcissism relates to our developmental course, all of us! So, a bad glitch would be a natural defect, not something to be called out as voluntary.

Also, being a narcissist doesn’t necessarily mean you’re a mean, perverted one, whereas a pervert is necessarily narcissistic. Maybe adding « toxic » or « Machiavellian » will clarify that narcissism doesn’t inherently refer to something bad.

Vulnerabilities and flaws

Some people are toxically narcissistic without the intent to hurt others; they are simply awkward, lacking the ability to efficiently comprehend other people’s internal states and legitimate needs (and perhaps their own as well). However, other narcissists can be intentionally obnoxious because they are aware of their nature and take pride in it. They lack emotional empathy, but their cognitive empathy is quite functional, aiding them in manipulating and hurting others (they scheme in accordance with how they know and expect others to feel and react).

Using the term « narcissist » to describe egotistical or selfish behavior (as major traits in someone’s profile) doesn’t bother me. It’s fair because not everything is about psychoanalysis or science, which are supposedly meant to protect us from pseudoscience (the irony, psychoanalysis being itself a pseudoscience). After all, the term « narcissism » doesn’t originally belong to psychology or pop psychology; it relates to the myth of Narcissus, a tale about someone who was excessively enamored with himself.

When the abuse is acknowledged proudly and repeated, that is perversion. Narcissists can be a real pain as they cling to you and scheme long-term destruction or exploitation, aiming to end your freedom and happiness. They become obsessed.

They believe they can control minds

Some narcissists are so immature and in love with themselves that they cannot conceive of others changing their mentality, feelings, or willingness when it comes to their attitude or devotion towards the narcissist’s persona. Let’s say you once adored a narcissist but then grew wiser and became disgusted by that person; he or she will remain convinced that this change of heart is impossible and that the adoration persists or can be reaffirmed.

Some narcissists can convince themselves that devotion for them exists, even if it never did in reality, because this glorifying scenario fits their inflated ego’s plans and the destiny they wish to manifest. Many narcissists see the people they obsess over as « alive » objects into which they can stuff the « feelings » they desire. It’s delusional; they live in a fantasy that is destructive for those who want no part in it.

They can’t control minds because some people quickly see through the fog of suspicious atmospheres, recognizing elements of gaslighting, and swiftly distance themselves from the needy, pushy narcissists seeking perverted psychological thrills and ways to exploit creative minds. When they hurt vulnerable people, their fantasies become true, but most Machiavellian narcissists prefer to target intelligent individuals, for the challenge and mental substance they can extract when entangled with inspiring personalities. Smart individuals can learn from their mistakes, becoming less empathetic when necessary to save themselves from the narcissists’ grip.

The downfall

Introspection is driven by the desire for honesty, yet, it is true that excessive introspection, when not symptomatic of suffering linked to an unfulfilled quest for self or one that does not happen without too much existential anxiety, can also be a theater exposed to the eye of whoever wishes to believe in this illustration of extreme devotion to what could be called truth. I think that the excessive use of this term by psycho-pop can indeed be considered for what it is: on one hand, a lucrative machine that exploits the naive, but on the other hand, it’s also a reflection of what is happening in our capitalist societies, in the sense that there is an extreme focus on the image, « the outer glow », that we can perceive not only from the side of convinced materialists (who perhaps also suffer from this addiction to always possessing more, where having is not necessarily a peaceful destiny), but also from the side of intellectuals considered to be the elite with the ultimate knowledge (yet problematic and with its major flaws).

People (who feel excluded) try to make sense of their suffering or explain it to themselves and to each other to feel less powerless in the face of injustice; they therefore turn to concepts like « narcissism, » which can relate to a vision of « evil » to be condemned or extinguished in order to regain a certain humanity that unites. This would be a kind of moral stance that can provide a sense of liberation, a soothing mindset, as it is resistant to the vice that frightens and divides

Conclusion

Sometimes, megalomaniacs are convinced that they are the source of all glory. Unable to accept that their portrayed radiance belongs to others they vampirize, they use magical thinking to claim it as their own. They surround themselves with sycophants who reinforce this illusion of brilliance, fueling their ego and profiting from the situation. Convinced that others’ allure originates from themselves, they treat those they are entangled with as mere possessions

The Narcissus myth is often seen as a cautionary tale about vanity, but my perspective, in my paper, shifts the focus to the predatory psychology of megalomaniacs—those who don’t just love themselves but steal the brilliance of others to inflate their ego. Unlike interpretations that emphasize passive self-adoration, my view explores how megalomaniacs actively construct a delusional grandeur by exploiting and possessing those around them.

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