Megalomania and narcissism in Hive? ... and Steemit?

This post was originally published on my Hive blog. The reason was a series of experiences I have seen throughout the creation of this network. It means that it is not recent. What is true is that some facts that ended up driving my decision to write and publish it, were recent, such as the attitude taken by certain characters in Hive against Project Hope, a community, which although it is true that I have joined just a few months ago, I have learned to value and respect.

Although the title includes Hive and Steemit, the content of the post is entirely the one published in Hive. However, I decide to publish it in Steemit not by way of gossip, since what I manifest here is public and notorious, but I also do it in case any of us or other users of this network, also have or begin to take a similar attitude. And the fact is that power has the power to distort reality, so we must be vigilant, lest we become, without realizing it, megalomaniacs or narcissists.

I am not a person to keep quiet and lower my head in the face of what I consider is not right. I like to express my opinion and be upfront. That's why I wrote that post over there and also put this title here. Believe me, if I notice anything strange on Steemit, whoever it is from, I will say so. I hope you know how to appreciate my frontality and sincerity.

Without further ado, enjoy the post (you can read the original at this link).

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If this post only had as title: "Megalomania and narcissism", maybe it would go unnoticed. But since it's accompanied by a resounding "on Hive ", I'm sure it will get a lot of traffic. Hopefully not, I don't want to earn flags on my posts or bans on servers or communities. 😕

The truth is that the above is worth a sovereign peanut to me. I don't depend on communities, rather I am beholden to them. I don't care about whales either, rather I thank them when they support me. For that reason, and in honor of the free expression that exists here (or at least, the one preached by the majority), I am encouraged to write this short publication that tries to bring up a very particular phenomenon that occurs in all those places where there are many egos coexisting. The struggle between each ego to stand out is brutal and when that ego is injected with something called HP, the speed with which it inflates is much more brutal.

The phenomenon in question is written in the title of this post. But what is megalomania? According to the "Nuevo diccionario Ilustrado Sopena", it is the.

"mania or delirium of grandeur".

Sopena himself expands on it:

Mania: a kind of madness, characterized by general delirium, and agitation and tendency to rage.... Extravagance, capricious preoccupation with a particular subject or thing.
Delirar: to rave, due to illness or passion. Perturbation of the reason that makes you say or do nonsense or nonsense.

Oxford Language, on megalomania, illustrates:

1. A mental disorder suffered by a person who believes himself to be socially very important, possessing enormous wealth and capable of doing great things.
2. The attitude of a person who behaves as if he or she had a social and economic position far superior to his or her real one.

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To become a little more professional, I quote this article where we read:

• Megalomanic personality traits or disorder: when a person's way of being is influenced by a grandiose self-concept, high self-esteem that leads them to skew, alter or filter reality. In general, they are satisfied with the way they are. However, with treatment they may become aware of this alteration.

In Hive there are many megalomaniacs and narcissists. Many who think they are queen bees just for having some decent amount of HP, being a curator or moderator of some community or server in Discord. Just notice the tone of their publications or their comments left in the channels where they make life or in the posts they comment or answer.

I continue quoting the previous article:

People with megalomaniac traits "believe they have a greater capacity than they really have and that makes them able to reach positions of power or more influence. In addition, socially they are well regarded and valued, but they are not empathetic," the psychiatrist points out.

As we can see, megalomaniac or narcissistic hivers are usually people of influence and relevance on the platform. But it is precisely this same sense of importance and even a messianic complex that leads them to think that the salvation, healing or resurgence of #Hive depends on them, which makes them the type of people who have problems with everyone, reflecting that they are the ones with the problem, not others.

I ask can we all be wrong or imperfect? No, that goes against reality and "normality". But for a megalomaniac, yes, he is the only one who is right. That's why they behave like that, like spoiled children who can't be contradicted because they get upset or throw a tantrum. When power goes to their head, it wreaks havoc with their view of reality!

We mentioned above that they lack empathy, didn't we? Well, I ask another question: is anyone born learned? Or rather, does one arrive at Hive learned? Logically no, but a megalomaniac, being a professional egomaniac, cannot understand that and if you ask him something about any subject, he answers you from his nefarious filter that you are an imbecile if you do not know how to use your brain to understand something, which for him is more than clear. That is, pedagogy is not his forte, kindness and humility are light years away from his essence.

It is sad to see how this narcissistic attitude abounds. In any community of any language. Because megalomania and narcissism does not discriminate in sex, language or hair color, they can appear in whoever and wherever.

Powerful whales down voting, censoring or invisibilizing other less strong users, just because they don't agree with something or because they believe that what someone else does affects them, or simply because that other user expressed a truth and she didn't like it. Infamous, envious or selfish dolphins limiting the reach of publications just because. The latter, big whales or pseudo leaders expressing themselves with insults, rudeness and hostility. In short, the dark side of humanity at its best. Yes, Hive is not perfect. Neither is Facebook, Blurt, Noise.cash, Steemit or Instagram.

Are you one of those megalomaniacs or narcissists? Sorry, I didn't mean for you to feel alluded to.

Are you a simple user who is oblivious to every outrage you see every day around here? Relax, continue to enjoy your stay and let the mighty kill each other.

Was this catharsis? Yes! And if I upset your cholesterol or triglyceride levels, I'm sorry. I'm exercising my right to express myself and you are in letting me express myself.