Empathy is an emergent property of the proper functioning of these neurons. We instinctively feel what the other person is feeling. Logically, there can be different sorts of relations. One person can be feeling something strongly and the other person mainly reacting to it. There can be a loop, in which Feeling 1 generates Feeling 2, which is reacted to by generating Feeling 3, or a stronger 1, etc.
What narcissists would seem to react to is others mirroring them. What interests them is them.
The mother looking at the baby is a paradigmatic image. We assume that mothers mother, but why? Many mothers, particularly young mothers, bring an enormous range of emotional problems to the table. If they are emotionally needy, the neediness of the child will trigger them in unpredictable ways. Babies being babies might anger them, or provoke sadness, over and above, all the naturally irritating things like crying, pooping, and needing to be fed regularly.
And I wonder specifically at the relation where a mother is looking in her childs eyes wanting to see herself, who rewards herself when she sees it, and ignores everything else.
And I wonder what connection will eventually be found between the operation of the mirror neurons and narcissism. I need to learn more before I speculate further, but it is an interesting question.
That we are in some respects machines I do not question. I simply do not share the belief that that is a complete, fully accurate, or even reasonable–based on the totality of evidence, much of which never makes it into university labs and classrooms–conclusion.
I see no reason to discard brain science or evolutionary theory, even if I think some of the underlying assumptions are clearly faulty.