Tea at Trianon: Online Narcissists

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Saturday, September 17, 2016

Online Narcissists

From An Upturned Soul:

I came across this brilliant post – Online Narcissism: Writers with NPD by Thomas Swan – which explores Narcissistic Personality Disorder expressed in writing on a blog and gives ways to spot if the blog you follow belongs to someone with NPD. There are a plethora of online articles written about online Narcissists. This is a good one – How to Spot a Narcissist Online by Julie Beck.

Mostly they cover Narcissists who use Facebook and Twitter. Some are informative, insightful, and others seem to confuse Egotism and Narcissism with Narcissistic Personality Disorder which can lead to people misdiagnosing the disorder in themselves and others. Someone who posts lots of pictures of themselves and takes a lot of Selfies may be Narcissistic but does not necessarily have Narcissistic Personality Disorder. In my view the opposite is often more of a sign of Narcissistic Personality Disorder, as Narcissists need to control how people see them so they are not as willing to post spontaneous photos of themselves, as these have to be vetted and studied to be sure they convey to those who look at them what the Narcissist wants them to see – their chosen identity.

Being Egotistical and Narcissistic is different from having Narcissistic Personality Disorder. The former is something we all have the natural ability to be, and a healthy dose of Egotistical Narcissism boosts our confidence, it’s a form of self-validation. An ego trip is fun, but it’s usually quite brief, we may only do it online, and the rest of the time we have both feet firmly planted on the ground. Someone on an ego trip will handle being confronted about it very differently from someone who has Narcissistic Personality Disorder. Those with NPD can’t, don’t and won’t come to their senses when confronted instead they go on the defensive which is usually an offensive offensive.

They’re the sort of online Forum member who attacks another Forum member then claims they were the victim of an attack when their victim defends themselves, then they report their ‘attacker’ to the Moderators, push to get them banned and publicly shames them in front of all the other members forcing their ‘victimiser’ to publicly apologise. They won’t accept the apology and will continue their campaign of online hate until the other person commits internet suicide to get away from them. (Please note: The story detailing this scenario comes from – Online Narcissism: Writers with NPD by Thomas Swan).

Confusion is an intrinsic part of Narcissistic Personality Disorder. The person who has NPD is confused and they dump their confusion all over the place like a volcano spewing confusion lava. Those who interact with someone who has NPD end up confused, drowning in it and desperately trying to make sense out of nonsense which is often disguised as authoritative rhetoric. So it’s not surprising that those who write about the disorder confuse it with other personality traits and disorders. NPD often overlaps with other disorders and those who have NPD often have sub-disorders. (Read more.)