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⬅️ Previous capture (2022-07-16)
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Ive seen the word pop up on gemini a few times, and its time to type my thoughts on it.
The term "NPC" or Non-Player Character is a old-as-dirt gaming term originally used to refer to characters in RPGs and the like. You probably already knew that but just covering bases here. NPC is relatively new slang in the context of calling real people an NPC, I only really noticed it become mainstream in the past few years. So what is an NPC in this new context? Basically a person unable or unwilling to think or act independently, relying on authority figures to instruct their thoughts akin to being 'programmed'. In otherwords, Your typical simple-minded model citizen who questions nothing.
While "NPC" is a new slang, the concept it defines is not new at all. "Normie" "blue-pilled" "sheeple" "NPC" "simpleton" these terms might as well be synonyms. They all refer to simple-minded people who dont care about "The Truth" or who dont "think for themselves". Basically what you should really read when you see these words is a big fat "Im so much smarter than you, you might as well be an object devoid of thought compared to my intelligence and originality"
I think its much more interesting to examine the people using these words and their theoretical personality archetypes. There have, and always will be, people who think they are smarter and wiser than the common "normie". Whether it be an angsty teen, a conspiracy theorist, a karen, or a plain old douche, They think they have some secret hidden knowledge that 99.99% of other people dont which makes them part of a special insider elite group.
Me vs you. Us vs them. Me good, you bad. Me better than you. Me prove it. Annnd just like that you now have the blueprints for most conflicts in human history. We like to form and be a part of social groups. But why? Well, theres social support from fellow members, pooling of resources, and most importantly *self-validation*. Meaning and validation are hard to come by and groups can provide both. By competing against others and subsiquently dominating them, you get a confidence boost by 'proving' yourself to be higher on the social ladder than others.
Like it or not, were primates. Sure, were a bit higher up on the conciousness ladder, but were still animals all the same. Our psychology and society depends on the same social gears that every other higher functioning animal society has. Dominance, agression, impulse, sexual competition, and societal rank are but a few of the many factors which we subconciously contend with in every day life. The word of the day for our topic is DOMINANCE.
You probably have an inherent understanding of what I mean by dominance, so theres no need to explain it. Whats interesting is that theres several dominance archetypes that people generally fall into when displaying dominance. The archetype I would like to share here is the "Smart Alec" archetype.
Smart alecs work on themselves to portray aloofness and a “better than you” attitude. They use big words, slow speech rate, personal distance, and drop quotes and references like it’s hot to show off their book smarts. They hide behind a facade of knowledge, but don’t be swayed: they are playing the dominance game just like every other power-thirsty individual. Their strategy to social power is elitism and ostracization. They’re sitting on their throne of wisdom, looking down on everyone else who is not equally scholarly, pedantic or condescending. They’re communicating “you’re not as good as I am”.