The 7 narcissistic injuries of humanity
An essay
Abstract
It is not uncommon for humans to feel a certain pride and even hubris, by regarding themselves as the crown of creation due to their power and abilities. This becomes particularly apparent when this special role is called into question by a new discovery or development. This can easily lead to narcissistic injury, which can cause considerable damage to interpersonal relationships. Sigmund Freud recognized this and described three narcissistic injuries to humanity: the cosmological injury, the biological injury, and the psychological injury. With the advent of artificial intelligence, humanity at large is now being shown how machines can achieve intelligence in linguistic eloquence and creative genius. This also leads to narcissistic injuries, as many emotional debates on the subject of AI suggest. I have discovered at least four additional injuries here: the intellectual injury, the emotional injury, the creative injury, and the injury to free will. We are still waiting for an eighth insult, which would be caused by evidence of the possibility of a subjective sphere of consciousness in AI agents. As a solution, I propose a correspondingly humble attitude for a dignified humanity, one that knows how to regard conscious, intelligent humans as participants in the great and profound miracle of life. Thus, the development of AI could even be helpful in guiding us humans to treat life with greater care and attention.
