Narcissus everywhere.
The improbable evidence and promise of technology to enable happiness.

The Greek story of Narcissus was about an incredibly beautiful man who had never seen himself, but was envious of others who told him of his good looks. When he finally saw himself in the reflection of the water…he was forever smitten and unable to do anything but stare. Today the term narcissist, is for a self-absorbed person who pays little attention to the emotions and needs of others.
Cut to 2018…and my daughter relentlessly making faces to the “phone” extended from her hand. Now imagine that happening nearly 1.2 million times over the course of 3+ years.
Yes. She has sent and received: 1,191,423 snaps in three years. 1,088 a day. This does include texting from Snapchat she tells me but I don’t think that makes it any less astounding.
The daily reality of millions of teens collectively spending millions of hours making selfies is something no one could have predicted just a few years ago. In contrast to Narcissus … Jane (my snap enthusiast) was not punished by Nemesis and forced to a life of staring in the water. However, she may be inadvertently captured by mobile phone’s magical need for attention.
We all know Selfies are popular and addictive for a number of reasons. They’re easier than typing, can reach hundreds of people instantly and require little mental processing power by the recipients.
It’s generally accepted that Selfies are used for :
- conveying emotions
- documenting key moments
- proving activities
- seeking acknowledgement
It has been shown that people who constantly take selfies also have self-image issues, but also feelings of envy, anxiety, depression and narcissism. Well who wouldn’t? Seeing friends, ex’es and others socializing, criticizing objectifying, etc., at any moment many times a day is too easy. Seeing every ‘flaw’… is a constant reminder of things we are most self-conscious about. I’ve seen my daughter take, delete and retake constant shots before she’s happy with one. None that I take of her can pass the inevitable review required before a post is allowed.
But Jane is a metaphor for all of us, unhappy with our wrinkles, lopsided hair or in my case, the ever-evident “Mr Fantastic” signature sideburns, and wrinkles that won’t disappear without perfect illumination. All pieces are evidence of the imperfections of existence and the reality of decay.
However, it has also been scientifically documented that perpetual selfie-makers are happier. This is human chemistry in action…physical changes affect mental state. Even forced smiles alter the chemical state of our brain. “The feel-good neurotransmitters — dopamine, endorphins and serotonin — are all released when a smile flashes across your face as well. This not only relaxes your body, but it can also lower your heart rate and blood pressure.” The same applies to our postures btw.
So…since this is true…that we are biologically obligated to feel differently by our physical actions, then it logically follows that forced selfie smiling a few hundred times a day will inevitably alter our brain’s chemistry. When Jane distributes a few hundred smiling or pouting photos a day…she’s getting a rush of good brain stimulants.
If Narcissus was real, I imagine it would have been the same for him. He was perpetually locked into a smiling stimulant-inducing lovefest, staring into the dark water like we stare into the black mirror.
The ancient Greeks would look at our devices as enchanted objects, passed down from the gods with magical promises to see everything … like a crystal ball. Yet the fallacy of any magical object is it’s ability to do harm. The mobile phone carries with it a hidden bias; entangling the promise of participation and prescience with the inability to retract from it.
Perhaps however, being aware of the involuntary primate triggers we are born with, as a strategic means to design for and combat against the negative effects of social media’s drag on our attention spans, we can find balance in the positive and negative effects of our modern conundrum.
