People see what is happening around, and therefore they ask: "Self-love is what?" The Internet and the media make narcissism possible even for those who, in fact, are nothing of themselves. But it would be unfair to blame only one of our era, for daffodils have always been.
The myth of Narcissus as a necessary introduction
It is impossible to answer the question of selfishness without mentioning Narcissus, a handsome, but heartless young man. Narcissus loved no one but himself, and once the goddess of love Aphrodite avenged him for offending the nymph and rejecting her gifts. No one should play games with Aphrodite, but Narcissus was narcissistic and stupid. And it was like that.
Narcissus believed that he did not need to love, only him should love. And the nymphs, although mythical creatures, but their nature is still female. And the girls do not tolerate this attitude. Therefore, when Narcissus once again rejected the nymph, she wished him to repeat her fate, that is, fell in love with someone, but unrequitedly. The nymph's wish came true, because Aphrodite herself wanted to settle accounts with the young man.
During the hunt, Narcissus was thirsty, and he went to the stream to get drunk, and the stream was so clean that everything was reflected in it, like in a mirror. When the young man bent down, he saw himself in the water as he is and disappeared - he fell in love with himself to death in the literal sense of the word. He did not drink, did not eat, he looked at himself with might and main, and so died away.
The most amazing thing in this story is that the nymph that he rejected the first, according to myth, dug the grave for him - Echo. And other girls also mourned him, despite the cruel heart of the young man. Tradition speaks of the undoubted nobleness of a woman, on the one hand, and her cruelty, on the other. After all, the girls also killed Narcissus, although he took a direct part in his death.
Now that we know the source of history, it’s easier for us to understand that selfishness is what?
Self-love. Synonyms
In the technical part of the narration, we also need to indicate synonyms. And we will do it not without pleasure. So the list:
- Narcissism.
- Narcissism.
- Excessive vanity.
- Egocentrism.
- Stomping or petting (two slightly clumsy but used words).
- Narcissism (a psychological term that is gaining popularity).
This is selfishness. You can take a synonym from any of the list, but remember the context. In addition, narcissism and narcissism, and narcissism are identical in meaning, but egocentrism is a more general concept. An egocentric is not necessarily delighted with his own person, although most often yes. He puts himself above others. Fussing and prancing may not suit stylistic imagination - these definitions are too crude. We pass to the essence of the matter.
Self-esteem and self-love
To determine the meaningful meaning of the word "self-love" and "self-love," we need to remember egoism and self-centeredness. An egoist is a person who knows about the needs of other people, but deliberately tramples them, as he considers them insignificant. The egocentric is not even aware of the needs of other people. Myself is just that, but doesn’t even think that other people may have interests, opinions, work. Narcissus sincerely believes that he is the most entertaining and curious thing in the world, his hobbies, his accomplishments.
A joke about Yevtushenko as an example of ultimate self-love
In Soviet times, there was a very interesting joke about Yevtushenko. He and his friend meet. Yevtushenko long and tedious talks about himself and his successes, failures, mental torment. Then the monologue is abruptly interrupted, and he says: “What am I all about myself and about myself? Let's talk about you, how do you like my new book? ”
This perfectly characterizes the narcissistic type of person. Of course, some may not fully understand that there is selfishness. The examples can be endless in the future, so do not worry.
Z. Freud and K.-G. Jung
The discoverer of the phenomenon of narcissism Z. Freud also sinned narcissism. It is known that he considered his interpretation of psychoanalytic teaching to be the only correct one, and although he had students, he constantly cursed with them because of distortions of the theory. And even more jealously K.-G. Jung, because it was he, and not Freud, who discovered the collective layer of the human psyche. K.-G. Jung did not remain in debt and envied Freud that he was the discoverer of psychoanalysis as a method of knowing the unconscious.
If desired, the parade of ambitious people can be endless. But we will say only one thing before we proceed to concretize the concept of “pride”: men are more prone to falling in love with themselves than women.
Now it is time to answer the question: "And how is vanity different from selfishness?"
Everyone has pride
An attentive reader will note: despite the similarities in the sound of self-esteem and self-love, the former is not in the synonyms of the latter, and for good reason. These are two completely different essential concepts.
If we imagine the development of a person’s perception of himself in the form of a segment, then on the ends it will be self-abasement, and on the other hand - selfishness. Exorbitant humiliation of oneself is the same extreme as the unconscious love of oneself. Moreover, mind you, love and love are also different phenomena. If a person is in love with himself, this is not too good, but self-love is a normal feeling that should be present in everyone at least for the purpose of self-preservation. Therefore, the subject who hates himself will soon commit suicide.
A man endowed with pride, what is he? A man or woman with self-esteem will not give offense in any case. Moreover, they may not be alien to altruistic acts, i.e. for a person with adequate self-esteem, the people around them exist together with their opinions, interests and needs, and he is even capable of sacrificing for them. Another thing is that a proud person knows his place in the world and in life, and maybe he wants higher, but he certainly will never consciously go down his bar.
True, so as not to feel that we are singing the praises of self-esteem, let’s say: self-esteem can degenerate into self-love, and then a person turns into a daffodil. Therefore, everyone is at risk. Narcissistic subjects also should not be sad, because this is not some kind of fatal disease, in addition, if self-interest does not turn into pathological forms, then those around, as a rule, forgive the narcissists for their tendency. For the rest, we hope the reader understands that selfishness is not so bad, but not so good either. It is necessary to love oneself, and others should admire a man for his deeds and real achievements, while he himself should sing a laudatory song - a bad form.