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06527_Field_TCUM T92.txt
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1996-04-10
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The Greek myth of Narcissus is directly concerned with a
fact of human experience, as the word Narcissus indicates. It is
from the Greek word narcosis , or numbness. The youth
Narcissus mistook his own reflection in the water for another
person. This extension of himself by mirror numbed his
perceptions until he became the servomechanism of his own
extended or repeated image. The nymph Echo tried to win his
love with fragments of his own speech, but in vain. He was
numb. He had adapted to his extension of himself and had
become a closed system.
Now the point of this myth is the fact that men at once
become fascinated by any extension of themselves in any
material other than themselves. There have been cynics who
insisted that men fall deepest in love with women who give
them back their own image. Be that as it may, the wisdom of