Re:Ask HN: How did you fix your narcissism?
by ferdbold on Thursday February 06, 2020 @04:36PM
(#22260603)
Funnily enough, back when I was doing improv at school/university, I've found a great portion of the people there to be among the most self-absorbed people I've ever met. A lot of them were genuinely funny people, but there was a lot of ego, tribalism, people wanting to be stars, etc etc. It was actually one of the reasons why I got scared out of continuing in a local league after graduation, even if I'd done it for four years and thoroughly enjoyed it.
Re:Ask HN: How did you fix your narcissism?
by asdfman123 on Friday February 07, 2020 @10:15AM
(#22266713)
Same happened to me. I was deeply involved in the local improv community for a few years, and it was great at first, but a few toxic people drove me away for good.
My theory is it is a gathering place for people with narcissistic traits -- I mean, part of the appeal is being the center of attention and having everyone think you're brilliant and hilarious.
(Again, though, we all have narcissistic traits, but few of us are actually full-on narcissists.)
Re:Ask HN: How did you fix your narcissism?
by Benjammer on Thursday February 06, 2020 @04:46PM
(#22260717)
Improv is like an adult hack to learn teamwork skills if you never got serious about a team sport as a child. The idea of playing a role, using the tools available to your role to help make the other roles successful, and counting on teammates to do the same for you. Being part of something bigger than the sum of the parts, and being able to truly take vicarious satisfaction from the success of the whole as opposed to any individuals, especially oneself.
Re:Ask HN: How did you fix your narcissism?
by sixo on Thursday February 06, 2020 @05:23PM
(#22261096)
A good roleplaying game might be have a similar effect in a more comfortable setting (for some).
The core to learning improv is learning how NOT to be the center of attention. Everything is about supporting your team-mates: you have to pay extremely close attention to what they are doing and look for ways to give them further opportunities and make them look great.
Our improv instructor keeps on giving us exercises where if we take the lead, we're losing. I can already feel myself becoming better at paying attention to what other people are doing. One of the books we are reading for the class even makes the case that improv can help people become better at remembering each other's names.
I have no idea if improv classes are a useful way of combating narcissism, but maybe they could help?