“The narcissist is not hungry for experiences, he is hungry for Experience,” Richard Sennett wrote. “Looking always for an expression or reflection of himself in Experience, he devalues each particular interaction or scene.” Geographer Yi-Fu Tuan has noted that “experience is the overcoming of perils” and that the word “experience” shares a common root with “experiment,” “expert,” and “perilous.” Experience, Tuan argues, is venturing into the unfamiliar and embracing uncertainty and potential peril.
