Last night I found myself involved in a discussion where we tried to decide if the act of becoming a parent is narcissistic or selfish. Not as a knock to those who are parents; it began as a discussion of my own desire (or lack thereof, if that old friend still exists) to procreate.

Eventually, I decided it’s both. It’s narcissistic because it’s believing we’re bringing something into the world that the world needs. And because we think we can do it better than others. Than our parents. That we need to leave a legacy. And it’s selfish because if we shrug off the narcissist label, all that’s left is “Because I want to.”

But then, you could argue, isn’t that the crux of human nature? Aren’t we just living out our humanity, one more cell division at a time?