Robert, Michael, The image of the eyes is very interesting because it is parallel to Konrad Lorentz' hypothesis concerning imprinting, a mechanism with which newborn animal primates "decide" who is their "mother". In Konrad Lorentz' experiments newborn geese chose Lorentz their mother because his eyes were the first pair of eyes the geese saw. It could be the link from biology to psychology, the first (and only?) wired connection from "genetic clockwork" to perceptive and learning being. Autistic and narcissist disorders are the two ends of the autistic spectrum. Autism is the lower end, narcissism the higher one. In general, autists live in their own world, narcissists are struggling halfway (in different grades) to the human world. Common to both is that they have not learned (emerged) the ability to understand other's feelings, i.e. empathy. A child must learn empathy from his/her caretaker, it is not wired. Without empathy you feel strange among people and your self-consciousness is very low. Autists don't care too much but narcissists do, they are desperate in hidind bad and pretending good self-consciouness - which could lead to abuse and unconscious violence. Michael, your item 4 is very important. Why present-day mothers do no more look in their childen's eyes? My answer is that present-day mothers do no more look in their children's eyes during a couple of first years whenever child needs it. Present-day mothers go to work, take care their career or simply spend more time outside home leaving children to some temporary persons to care (whom the child don't know as mother). This is socially very difficult situation. This age turns human values to technical or medical issues. If mothers (or fathers) feel that growing a child is a prison, should they be sterilized - or abortized in the case of accident? That's just rethorics, but you understand my point.
