Thursday, July 19, 2018

Reading Trump

Interesting comment from someone on a segment of CNN this afternoon. He said that Trump is "illiterate" when it comes to security briefings. This triggers the thought that narcissism is a block to reading comprehension in general. A narcissist like Trump isn't just incapable of imagining the existence of other human beings. He is also deeply uncomfortable in any moment that is not entirely focused on him. Well, when you read something, you're opening yourself up to something external, something other. I suspect that the very act of reading makes Trump anxious, and that if it goes on for more than a few seconds, that anxiety rises to the level of terror. He physically cannot stand to pay attention to the words on the page. His disinclination to read has been characterized as stupidity or laziness. I think it's fear.