researching ego
I sometimes consider a concept for months at a time.
Sort of in the background.
There are a few concepts that I have been mulling over for years and a few that I am still mulling.
About twenty years ago I decided to study the concept of Ego.
In the sense of "Wow, that guy has a big ego" as opposed to "His Id and Ego were ever flirting with one another."
I had experienced a few people who had remarkably high opinions of themselves.
I have come to the opinion that there were two types of 'big ego'.
The most common type is by way of compensating for a person's feelings of insecurity.
Because they feel inadequate or unworthy they self-aggrandize, puff up, and pose as some sort of badass - and tend to tear down the people around them in their scramble to stay atop their faux pedestal.
The other type of 'big ego' is when someone just happens to know that they are a giant among their fellows.
They didn't plan it, they didn't even particularly want it, but who are they to deny their obvious magnificence?
The director of the division in which I worked at Microsoft was one such self-considered giant.
I read a biography of Picasso and a biography of Frank Lloyd Wright while I was considering the dynamics of a 'big ego'.