This paper discusses the problem of ambiguity as a form of narcissistic resistance that alters the meaning of words and hinders communication and access to the unconscious. The ego uses ambiguity to avoid and project confusion.

Pathological ambiguity is differentiated from other forms of ambiguity which do not hinder communication. Though they share a common element—oscillation between two opposites—the mechanism involved in this form of ambiguity differs from the mechanism involved in thought processes, ambivalence and metaphor. Two examples are used to investigate the problem of ideals and ego splitting. Ambiguity corresponds to a disorder whereby two contradictory ideals co-exist within the ego ideal. One ideal fixes the discovery of the unconscious as a goal. The other ideal overvalues acting out. The result is that the ego tends to obtain self-esteem through goals that lead to error and it is this quest for error that sustains the feeling of omnipotence.