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Neutralizing Narcissism: The Immutable EditionEgo Death: When the Narcissist’s Mask Cracks
The ego death of a narcissist is not like the spiritual dissolution sought by monks or psychedelic wanderers. It is not transcendence. It is not enlightenment. It is terror. It is obliteration. It is the death of the illusion they spent their entire lives constructing. When a narcissist is exposed, when the world sees them for what they truly are, when they can no longer control the narrative— …something breaks. And in that break, the fragile scaffolding of their identity begins to collapse i...
Neutralizing Narcissism: The Immutable EditionMapping the Narcissist: How Intellectual Manipulation Plays Out in Real Time
Introduction: The Dance of ControlThere’s a moment in every debate with a narcissist where the game becomes visible—where the illusion of good faith discourse shatters, and what’s left is a desperate struggle for control. These moments are easy to miss if you don’t know what to look for. But once you do? You see the pattern everywhere. This article is about one such moment. It began with what appeared to be a genuine conversation—an intellectual exchange about AI, meaning, and consciousness. ...
Neutralizing Narcissism: The Immutable EditionJoel Johnson: A Case Study in Narcissistic Collapse
Introduction: The Digital Disintegration of a NarcissistNarcissistic collapse has long been a theoretical and clinical phenomenon, observed in cases where individuals suffering from Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) face an overwhelming threat to their carefully constructed false self (Kernberg, 1975; Kohut, 1977). However, the digital age has introduced a new challenge for narcissists—permanence. In a world where online interactions are recorded, analyzed, and archived, traditional nar...
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Neutralizing Narcissism: The Immutable EditionEgo Death: When the Narcissist’s Mask Cracks
The ego death of a narcissist is not like the spiritual dissolution sought by monks or psychedelic wanderers. It is not transcendence. It is not enlightenment. It is terror. It is obliteration. It is the death of the illusion they spent their entire lives constructing. When a narcissist is exposed, when the world sees them for what they truly are, when they can no longer control the narrative— …something breaks. And in that break, the fragile scaffolding of their identity begins to collapse i...
Neutralizing Narcissism: The Immutable EditionMapping the Narcissist: How Intellectual Manipulation Plays Out in Real Time
Introduction: The Dance of ControlThere’s a moment in every debate with a narcissist where the game becomes visible—where the illusion of good faith discourse shatters, and what’s left is a desperate struggle for control. These moments are easy to miss if you don’t know what to look for. But once you do? You see the pattern everywhere. This article is about one such moment. It began with what appeared to be a genuine conversation—an intellectual exchange about AI, meaning, and consciousness. ...
Neutralizing Narcissism: The Immutable EditionJoel Johnson: A Case Study in Narcissistic Collapse
Introduction: The Digital Disintegration of a NarcissistNarcissistic collapse has long been a theoretical and clinical phenomenon, observed in cases where individuals suffering from Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) face an overwhelming threat to their carefully constructed false self (Kernberg, 1975; Kohut, 1977). However, the digital age has introduced a new challenge for narcissists—permanence. In a world where online interactions are recorded, analyzed, and archived, traditional nar...
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[Opening Scene: The Courtroom of the Imagination]
Bailiff: "All rise for the Honorable Judge Joel Johnson, presiding over the case of Reality vs. Delusion."
Judge Joel (adjusting his imaginary robe): "We are gathered here today to determine… something. I’m not exactly sure what, but rest assured, it is very serious."
Prosecutor: "Your Honor, the defendant—uh, I mean, the accused—uh, I mean, the person we don’t like—Mark Havens, has committed an egregious offense."
Judge Joel (nodding gravely): "And what offense would that be?"
Prosecutor (flipping through blank pages of a legal pad): "Well…he… wrote things."
Gasps from the jury
Judge Joel (leaning forward): "Go on…"
Prosecutor (dramatically): "He used… words. And, Your Honor, they were well-crafted words. Punchy, even. And we simply cannot allow that kind of behavior in a free society."
Judge Joel (wiping an imaginary tear): "Truly horrifying. And did he—oh no, tell me he didn’t—document public conversations and place them in an archive for posterity?"
Prosecutor: "He did, Your Honor. And even worse… he used satire."
Judge Joel (clutching pearls): "SATIRE? IN MY COURTROOM?"
The gallery gasps again. A woman faints. Someone in the back shouts, "Won't somebody think of the narcissists?"
The prosecution presents Exhibit A: a Facebook DM sent on a Sunday afternoon, the holiest of intimidation days.
"WE need a good place to send documents."
"WHICH IS THE BEST?"
(So many choices. The tension is unbearable.)
"These addresses? Irrelevant. This number? Indeterminate. This case? Pure fiction."
After hours (seconds) of deliberation, the jury returns a unanimous decision:
Jury Foreman: "Your Honor, we find the plaintiff guilty of weaponized vagueness, unregistered blustering, and second-degree intimidation via unverifiable, potentially irrelevant addresses."
Judge Joel (gavel trembling): "This is an outrage. Who let facts into this courtroom?"
The gavel slams.
Case dismissed.
Reality wins.
Sunday DMs full of bad-faith legal posturing are not legal notices. They are tantrums dressed in professionalism. And like all tantrums, they belong in the archive—not in the realm of credibility.
Satire adjourned.
Imported from Substack on 2/28/2025 due to deplatforming attempt — link
[Opening Scene: The Courtroom of the Imagination]
Bailiff: "All rise for the Honorable Judge Joel Johnson, presiding over the case of Reality vs. Delusion."
Judge Joel (adjusting his imaginary robe): "We are gathered here today to determine… something. I’m not exactly sure what, but rest assured, it is very serious."
Prosecutor: "Your Honor, the defendant—uh, I mean, the accused—uh, I mean, the person we don’t like—Mark Havens, has committed an egregious offense."
Judge Joel (nodding gravely): "And what offense would that be?"
Prosecutor (flipping through blank pages of a legal pad): "Well…he… wrote things."
Gasps from the jury
Judge Joel (leaning forward): "Go on…"
Prosecutor (dramatically): "He used… words. And, Your Honor, they were well-crafted words. Punchy, even. And we simply cannot allow that kind of behavior in a free society."
Judge Joel (wiping an imaginary tear): "Truly horrifying. And did he—oh no, tell me he didn’t—document public conversations and place them in an archive for posterity?"
Prosecutor: "He did, Your Honor. And even worse… he used satire."
Judge Joel (clutching pearls): "SATIRE? IN MY COURTROOM?"
The gallery gasps again. A woman faints. Someone in the back shouts, "Won't somebody think of the narcissists?"
The prosecution presents Exhibit A: a Facebook DM sent on a Sunday afternoon, the holiest of intimidation days.
"WE need a good place to send documents."
"WHICH IS THE BEST?"
(So many choices. The tension is unbearable.)
"These addresses? Irrelevant. This number? Indeterminate. This case? Pure fiction."
After hours (seconds) of deliberation, the jury returns a unanimous decision:
Jury Foreman: "Your Honor, we find the plaintiff guilty of weaponized vagueness, unregistered blustering, and second-degree intimidation via unverifiable, potentially irrelevant addresses."
Judge Joel (gavel trembling): "This is an outrage. Who let facts into this courtroom?"
The gavel slams.
Case dismissed.
Reality wins.
Sunday DMs full of bad-faith legal posturing are not legal notices. They are tantrums dressed in professionalism. And like all tantrums, they belong in the archive—not in the realm of credibility.
Satire adjourned.
Imported from Substack on 2/28/2025 due to deplatforming attempt — link
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