He/She is often charismatic to the point where little reigning in of the overall effect on others can be exercised. Often aloof and self-absorbed, they will escape on a whim to the corners of their own mind (unnoticed at times by others.) This place holds the whole core of this archetype in my opinion. There lies the dichotomy of their conundrum. It is the only place sacred and safe to them from everything outside. Since they often experience feelings of warlike paranoia coming at them from every direction, this place is where they go to hide from all pain. It does not prevent the harm from being done. It only allows a vestige of sanity to pull on during real or imagined attacks. Usually this works for them both in times of mental anguish and physical trauma. I believe we all have this place. Most people who have broken a limb, or experienced another form of extreme physical trauma know this place as "going into shock." No pain, mild to extreme disorientation, catatonia, dissociative behaviors (e.g. not feeling the pain of a wound that is obviously painful or not knowing anything has happened to them even when told it has,) among many other things can all be symptoms. Whereas most see this place as a refuge or "vacation home" in the mind designed to protect the person involved like a surge protector, this caste of man has said goodbye to the real world for the most part and decided to move into the vacation cabin in the mountains for good. This is symbolic of there behavior and personality more succinctly I think than anny other allegory. This behavior is totally understandable. I believe that in some it is instinctual from birth, a prewired, predetermined path that is of no choosing of their own. They are few and far between. The majority, I find, have had an extreme (brain-chemistry altering- Yes, it has been scientifically provem.) or prolonged traumatic experience. Since we know everyone goes or is capable of going to the "vacation spot," it is not too far of a leap to conclude they would have during this time(s) as well. My theory for the basis of this archetype is that this trauma is so great or occurs so frequently that the escapist reality become either more familiar over time than "reality" or is simlply way too appealing to leave knowing the pain waiting on Main Street USA. Therefore, the change of address cards go out at a very early age. Now, for these oft charsimatic and generally intelligent sub-species, it is still a genetic imperative to feel part of the herd (even if it is by being "the outsider.") Most onlookers will not notice any immediate change in the person. On the outside, these chameleons, especvially earlier in life, appear lucid if absent-minded, bright, and social. They have not grown into the part of them that is hardest with which to deal. As they grow, children mimic behaviors until they assimilate them into their own personalities and habits. Now, remember how the vacation home works. Perception is never really halted or turned off. It is temporarily deflected or altered though. Although this is a phenomenal way of biding pain and allowing a longer than normal healinng time for atrucious mental events, it is not a place within, by any means to be socialized orlearn to deal with reality. Things can tend to be skewed toward a more acceptable slant that are socially unacceptable as a rule. Things that would normally excite and stimulate the person in, particular those things correlated to interpersonal bonding, can be dull if perceptible at all. To a child just experiencing all this for the first time, there is no basis for comparison making it all seem "perfectly normal." That they perceive the world for so much longer without any real interuption in this paradigm is where the fate of the child is sealed. I think there is a major installation of foundation class personality traits between two and twelve or fourteen (roughly prepubesence.) These children fall prey to the reinforcement of years of this reality. Showing no major symptoms of illness or distress, because of the very thing that will be the eventual undoing, is the catch-22. The child is not developing normally because he appears to be developing normally. Having never known early enough in most cases to pay focused attention to many of this caste at this primordial stage, I cannot say how much they try, voluntarily or not, to make someone outside themselves aware. It may be simply too safe to question for one who knows no different. I find this in child abuse victims. They tend not to understand why it is so few other children get less "disciplining" than they do. Strangely not from the point of view that the other lives are better, but more from the perspective of a foreigner listening to another language spoke for the first time. Familiar but not native. Around the time puberty hits, maybe later or earlier depending on the exposure to outside paradigms and the severity of the withdrawal, the person will start to notice that they are not quite the norm in a lot of social and emotional ways. I find they are great at pretending to act in the appropriate manner, for example crying at a funeral, or being happy at a wedding party. Most can recant countless times where an emotional reaction, to what is conventionally considered to naturally evoke response is totally lacking or not at a level appropriate to the caliber of the experience. I have seen totally inappropriate emotional responses as well. Laughing at bad news. Sudden crying or paramoia associated with love. I would not necessarily consider this a psychosis since that connotes that it is a perceptive disorder, whereas I believe this to be a learned response disorder. The brain is rewceiving the same stimuli, it is somply programmed to respond inappropriately at times if at all. Once the child or adult realizes this for themselves, an event ranging the full gamut or possibilities but often to do with feelings of detachment or as a rsult of repeated akward or negative outcomes from what seemed perfectly natural in this person's world, he will start to micro-manage his emotions like a work assignment not a natural or learned response. I know some people who have practiced responding different ways for years to get the "perfect" return as often and with as diverse a situation as possible. It often becomes an obsession. Which goes hand in hand with the whole scheme thus far. With a person spending so much time distant emotionally from his environment, it would lend itself to be true that a child's developing brain would be starved for stinuli and seek it out in vast quantities and extreme depths in the places they felt safest as a way of satiating the entire genre (emotional) of missing but anticipated input. This holding true would then lead to excessive thirst for a particular line of stimulus. Some through environment and/or genetics lend themselves to knowledge and learning. Others turning inward equally as far to the opposing hemisphere governing creativity may find fuel there. I find a lot of genius and just as much insanity in this archetype. It would not be in error to assume that not all people are provided either enough mental fortitude and/or external reference to keep even the faintest of grasps on our reality. These are the people we see as victims of catatonia and extreme seclusion even radically "unacceptable social developments." I think anti-social and sociopathic behaviors may fall into this realm as well as pathological disorders such as lying, kleptomania, and some obsessive-compulsive disorders. To these people, there is usually little negative natural environment feedback. They mainly run into problems when they have mismatched feelings and instinctual behaviors that they picked up early on and now few people around them exhibit. "Why don't I ever feel sad when someone I care for dies?" and "I go through the motions but I don't get that feeling like everyone else." can often be heard from these people.
So, we have a basis to work from now and decide, in far so far as we have factual evidence, some of the motivations for this archetypes behaviors. What do we know thus far?.
They are likely victim of major or repeated traumas during the stages of development responsible for the founding of emotional and social aptitude.
They are innately withdrawn no matter the outward appearance and behaviors to the contrary.
They must at some point in order to function in daily society have mastered use of essebtial contrived second-hand emotional respoonses.
Tjey tend to have exceptional intellect and/or creative talent.
On the negative, they have an inordivately high tendency towards a litany of mental disorders or behaviors that are often mistaken for such.
They tend not to feel comfortable outside the realm of existence they create for themselves, and therefore can only be reached when the person attempting to do so does in their world, on their schedule, and on their terms.
Often feelings of emptiness, loniiness, and detachment are pervasive in all aspects of their lives. Trust is often a major issue when they make the effort to build an interpersonal connection of even the slightest significance,
Oftemtimes they do not make any effort at all to invite people into their lives. This can bring on or aggrevate existing conditions such as depression.
One of the few archetyope when they so desire to do so, that can fully remove themselves from a situation and make a nearly unbiased decision.
They, even as full adults are known to socially clumsy an rare but memorable occasions.
They may develop a well-crafted tactlessness that, while off puting in most anyone else, is considred to be one of their endearing traits.
Repetedly tending towards embarrassment as a youth they are acutely aware of their own behaviors and what they choose to let, or not let, out of their mouths.
Strategy would be their defining word. Everything is like chess and planned well in advance accordingly. Even the most apt at this "design talent" fail more often than they admit and as logically follows the toll to their whole existence is perennially higher than most.
They fill the largest percentage of those deemed Charismats (a social strata super class...more later) on account of their natural proclivity to the arts and sciences required, but sadly, tend to achieve the least greater good with it. They tend to get caught up in abusing this talent, as with so nuch in theor exixtence, on personal gain and protection.
Leading to the most commonly seen charateristic of this genre,... Intrinsically philanthropists in the ideological arena, they are usually the most egocentric in the pragmatic one. Put simply, they are the most obviously self-serving and selfish af all the castes. As a strange coup de grace, they are unabashedly unapologetic about it. To them, (And for many others upon careful explanation) the behavior is logical if cold and often inhuman.
Years of holding a protective stance because of being forced to study when and why and how humans emotionally respond as a method of preventing the appearance of social ineptitude have crafted this caste into a keen observer and swift analyzer of most any social situation whether familiar or completely foreign to them. It is in this characteristic that several things come full circle in this archetype and become the basis for its strengths and weaknesses. Very early on, all children know certain behaviors will evoke certain innate responses from other people. They also learn that not every person will react the same given the same stimulus. The child's first evidence of free will in his conceptualization of existence. This is importantt to remember because the question of its validity and evidence to the contrary will play a key part in the development of, and later, the Latent Philosophy of this archetype more than any other. It can be found filtering its influennces into almost every decision and behavior of this archetype.
So, why is assigning the title of Self-Appointed Martyr apropos? Easy enough, I think. You will recall the "vacation home" where they reside mentally. With this inborn detachment and proclivity toward withdrawl, they are not given a certain place in society they feel naturally befits them. Adding on top of all else a strong likelyhood for genius and insanity (my favorite for a mix of well-tempered meglomania!) and you have someone with just enough loneliness and well-placed self-doubt to have an insatiable desire to "fit in for once" and the moxy and social skills (even if faked) to create themselves a position rather than step into a prefabricated one. At times, they have been known to step into the shoes of another. These are those people that don't quite fit the mold. Marching to beat of there own drummer. They don't seem to notice the pparadoxes swirling about their every move and balance it all with seemingly little effort. You almost always see SAMs with a collected, a;ert, and confident demeanor about them. They make everything look so easy and carry on with an air of having all the answers. Granted, they often have more than is fairly their share of the answers (recall the obsessive behaviors,) but they are working harder to appear that way for one minute than most put into a year of life. Thhat, as you would expect, leads to burn out way quicker than most. They have exhobitant suicide rates, nervous breakdowns, and total life failures. They earn the Pheonix as their symbolic animal. "Crash and burn, if only to learn." in that neverending cycle that creativity drives towards invention.
So, all information thus far in the kettle you gotta add the mettle. I stated earlier that because of their exotic mental locale, they can handle a level of pain and punishment, particularly in cerebral form, than most any being you will encounter. You can safely assume that this fact has not eluded our eagle-eyed SAM. Nor has the fact that humans and pretty much every living thing naturally shy away from pain and its many relatives. If we add two and two, four is bound to look somthing like the SAM. A position in society that no matter what the failings, short-comings, or irrational behaviors, people will be dependant upon this person for some sort of shelter. Like a psychological umbrella in the shitstorm called Life. They are perfectly suited to this role. Knowing people tells a SAM where there strebgths and weaknesses are usually to be found. This leads them to more efficiently protect and counsel the charge under their care. They are not as all-empowered as they think though. It is in this very "gift-to-mankind" that their undoing is sealed. They get better and better with their regular people (you will notice that boredom is a bane for SAMs even if it is a different thing to each) and start to find they need more to make them remain fulfilled. As the workload increases, so do the mistakes, bad decisions, and propensity to fuck up royally. Stress levels sky rocket because no one counsels their counseler. With no one to lean against while every one leans against him, the martyr sacrifices himself to save them all. Or so we are led to bel;ieve. I kind of see it as anoither star going SuperNova and all those nearby are lucky to remain intact. Usually and luckily, for the SAM will he survive exhausted and relatively unscathed. Eventually they will put back on their mask and off to work saving a world who very well may not want to be saved.
That concept at the very end of not wanting to be saved ties into a major fault in paradigmn for the SAM. Think backon the baby's first thoughts of free will. We all agree humans are imbued with free will. One of our most interesting an difficult concepts. A SAM sees that yes, we have free will, to an extent. He is also dangerously aware that we have a large number of genetic presets and failsafes hardwired into our brains. These are things that have helped all mammals and life in general survive millions of yrears. Instincts so raw and real and strong that I doubtthey would ever not be a part of every tliving thing in the universe. They get more complex as you climb the food chain, and we get way better at not boticing them as we have encephalized over time, but they are still there and can be seen ib the most common if behaviors. Take for example, that most adult mammals have a deeper more audible sound they create than its respective youbg. Do you think this is an accident? I assure you nothing that survives its first million years of evolution is an accidebt at all. It is natures way of protecting tghe young from attack by larger relatives. Stops a youth dead in his traxks before his instinct to spar overrides his common sense. So, when a lion cub hears his uncle's annoyed but markedlyt deeper roar his brain says "He will eat you. Run away now." In humans as with all mamals this holkds true, think about how much impact James Earl Jones's voice has when he speaks even for Bell South......
This needs to be proofread and another installment is on the way
So, we have a basis to work from now and decide, in far so far as we have factual evidence, some of the motivations for this archetypes behaviors. What do we know thus far?.
They are likely victim of major or repeated traumas during the stages of development responsible for the founding of emotional and social aptitude.
They are innately withdrawn no matter the outward appearance and behaviors to the contrary.
They must at some point in order to function in daily society have mastered use of essebtial contrived second-hand emotional respoonses.
Tjey tend to have exceptional intellect and/or creative talent.
On the negative, they have an inordivately high tendency towards a litany of mental disorders or behaviors that are often mistaken for such.
They tend not to feel comfortable outside the realm of existence they create for themselves, and therefore can only be reached when the person attempting to do so does in their world, on their schedule, and on their terms.
Often feelings of emptiness, loniiness, and detachment are pervasive in all aspects of their lives. Trust is often a major issue when they make the effort to build an interpersonal connection of even the slightest significance,
Oftemtimes they do not make any effort at all to invite people into their lives. This can bring on or aggrevate existing conditions such as depression.
One of the few archetyope when they so desire to do so, that can fully remove themselves from a situation and make a nearly unbiased decision.
They, even as full adults are known to socially clumsy an rare but memorable occasions.
They may develop a well-crafted tactlessness that, while off puting in most anyone else, is considred to be one of their endearing traits.
Repetedly tending towards embarrassment as a youth they are acutely aware of their own behaviors and what they choose to let, or not let, out of their mouths.
Strategy would be their defining word. Everything is like chess and planned well in advance accordingly. Even the most apt at this "design talent" fail more often than they admit and as logically follows the toll to their whole existence is perennially higher than most.
They fill the largest percentage of those deemed Charismats (a social strata super class...more later) on account of their natural proclivity to the arts and sciences required, but sadly, tend to achieve the least greater good with it. They tend to get caught up in abusing this talent, as with so nuch in theor exixtence, on personal gain and protection.
Leading to the most commonly seen charateristic of this genre,... Intrinsically philanthropists in the ideological arena, they are usually the most egocentric in the pragmatic one. Put simply, they are the most obviously self-serving and selfish af all the castes. As a strange coup de grace, they are unabashedly unapologetic about it. To them, (And for many others upon careful explanation) the behavior is logical if cold and often inhuman.
Years of holding a protective stance because of being forced to study when and why and how humans emotionally respond as a method of preventing the appearance of social ineptitude have crafted this caste into a keen observer and swift analyzer of most any social situation whether familiar or completely foreign to them. It is in this characteristic that several things come full circle in this archetype and become the basis for its strengths and weaknesses. Very early on, all children know certain behaviors will evoke certain innate responses from other people. They also learn that not every person will react the same given the same stimulus. The child's first evidence of free will in his conceptualization of existence. This is importantt to remember because the question of its validity and evidence to the contrary will play a key part in the development of, and later, the Latent Philosophy of this archetype more than any other. It can be found filtering its influennces into almost every decision and behavior of this archetype.
So, why is assigning the title of Self-Appointed Martyr apropos? Easy enough, I think. You will recall the "vacation home" where they reside mentally. With this inborn detachment and proclivity toward withdrawl, they are not given a certain place in society they feel naturally befits them. Adding on top of all else a strong likelyhood for genius and insanity (my favorite for a mix of well-tempered meglomania!) and you have someone with just enough loneliness and well-placed self-doubt to have an insatiable desire to "fit in for once" and the moxy and social skills (even if faked) to create themselves a position rather than step into a prefabricated one. At times, they have been known to step into the shoes of another. These are those people that don't quite fit the mold. Marching to beat of there own drummer. They don't seem to notice the pparadoxes swirling about their every move and balance it all with seemingly little effort. You almost always see SAMs with a collected, a;ert, and confident demeanor about them. They make everything look so easy and carry on with an air of having all the answers. Granted, they often have more than is fairly their share of the answers (recall the obsessive behaviors,) but they are working harder to appear that way for one minute than most put into a year of life. Thhat, as you would expect, leads to burn out way quicker than most. They have exhobitant suicide rates, nervous breakdowns, and total life failures. They earn the Pheonix as their symbolic animal. "Crash and burn, if only to learn." in that neverending cycle that creativity drives towards invention.
So, all information thus far in the kettle you gotta add the mettle. I stated earlier that because of their exotic mental locale, they can handle a level of pain and punishment, particularly in cerebral form, than most any being you will encounter. You can safely assume that this fact has not eluded our eagle-eyed SAM. Nor has the fact that humans and pretty much every living thing naturally shy away from pain and its many relatives. If we add two and two, four is bound to look somthing like the SAM. A position in society that no matter what the failings, short-comings, or irrational behaviors, people will be dependant upon this person for some sort of shelter. Like a psychological umbrella in the shitstorm called Life. They are perfectly suited to this role. Knowing people tells a SAM where there strebgths and weaknesses are usually to be found. This leads them to more efficiently protect and counsel the charge under their care. They are not as all-empowered as they think though. It is in this very "gift-to-mankind" that their undoing is sealed. They get better and better with their regular people (you will notice that boredom is a bane for SAMs even if it is a different thing to each) and start to find they need more to make them remain fulfilled. As the workload increases, so do the mistakes, bad decisions, and propensity to fuck up royally. Stress levels sky rocket because no one counsels their counseler. With no one to lean against while every one leans against him, the martyr sacrifices himself to save them all. Or so we are led to bel;ieve. I kind of see it as anoither star going SuperNova and all those nearby are lucky to remain intact. Usually and luckily, for the SAM will he survive exhausted and relatively unscathed. Eventually they will put back on their mask and off to work saving a world who very well may not want to be saved.
That concept at the very end of not wanting to be saved ties into a major fault in paradigmn for the SAM. Think backon the baby's first thoughts of free will. We all agree humans are imbued with free will. One of our most interesting an difficult concepts. A SAM sees that yes, we have free will, to an extent. He is also dangerously aware that we have a large number of genetic presets and failsafes hardwired into our brains. These are things that have helped all mammals and life in general survive millions of yrears. Instincts so raw and real and strong that I doubtthey would ever not be a part of every tliving thing in the universe. They get more complex as you climb the food chain, and we get way better at not boticing them as we have encephalized over time, but they are still there and can be seen ib the most common if behaviors. Take for example, that most adult mammals have a deeper more audible sound they create than its respective youbg. Do you think this is an accident? I assure you nothing that survives its first million years of evolution is an accidebt at all. It is natures way of protecting tghe young from attack by larger relatives. Stops a youth dead in his traxks before his instinct to spar overrides his common sense. So, when a lion cub hears his uncle's annoyed but markedlyt deeper roar his brain says "He will eat you. Run away now." In humans as with all mamals this holkds true, think about how much impact James Earl Jones's voice has when he speaks even for Bell South......
This needs to be proofread and another installment is on the way
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