Me, me, me!
| 1 | is solitary, lonely, solipsistic | + + + |
| 2 | can be a couple, dialog | + + + + + + |
| 3 | is a crowd | − − − |
| 4 | has an audience | − − − − − − |
| ≥ 5 | just keeps getting worse.... | − − − − − − − − ⇒ |
Yes I want to be the center of attention. I was childreared to be of no value by People who had no value and so had no value to bestow. Even if they praised me it mwant nothing because they meant nothing -- well, they did mean things, like mowing the lawn and coercing me to get haircutted, so what?
I'm willing to make YOU the center of my attention, in which case I am still the center. You and I can be the centers of each other's attention Everybody else is an onlooker (or an intruder...).
What is intolerable for me is to be a member of the audience: a replaceable unit adjunctive to the protagonists. Being a member of the audience is being an object disposed over by the center(s) of attention. Three people are already one too many, no matter how good each is individually. A crowd is inimical even if it (also, nominally...) means well [The medium is the message!]. The packing density of human beings on this planet should be similar to that of lighthouses, often I'm (we're?) stuck with it being more like a bee hive: Buzzz!
