IJSP Number 6, 2024

86 That is the narrow perspective from the inside of the wonderful castle of self-importance. However, if we look better to the surroundings, we will not see spectators there, ready to appreciate us, but rather other castles, pretty much as our own. Consequently, those ‘others’ have the same distorted view as ours, everyone from his or her own castle with their own high walls of self-importance. And, it is not easy to step out or to leave those protecting walls. That would be to take a leap of faith, and to grow, to abandon the childish projections and the constant need of being cared for, for the sake of evolution and self-development. Unfortunately, there is a very common misunderstanding about growing (physically and psychologically), adulthood, and continuous self-development. This misunderstanding, or rather misinterpretation, was very clearly exposed by M. Scott Peck in “The Road Less Travelled”: “Growing up is the act of stepping from childhood into adulthood. Actually it is more of a fearful leap than a step, and it is a leap that many people never really take in their lifetimes. Though they may outwardly appear to be adults, even successful adults, perhaps the majority of ‘grown-ups’ remain until their death psychological children who have never truly separated themselves from their parents and the power that their parents have over them.” [4] And, as we all know, it is not very easy to be a fully grown-up. It is not easy to bring into adulthood all your personality, all its levels, intricacies or the hidden and childish wants and whims of a very basic, but totally insufficient, maladaptive, and unilateral ‘pleasure principle’ – not from the position of self- importance any way. 2. HOW DOES SELF-IMPORTANCE LOOK LIKE? We should recognise, once and for all, the complete artificiality and falsity of the construct called ‘self-importance’ and realize that it is, at least à la longue, an untenable existential position. It is one that can bring not only a lot of problems in the life of an individual, but also, pain, suffering, and even illness, psychological or physical. But then, we could ask, how is it that so many of our contemporary citizens are living their lives under the powerful umbrella of self- importance? How is it that such a pernicious existential modus operandi has an almost total power over millions and millions? Couldn’t we discern here some sort of inconsistency between the vast majority of the same psychological frame of mind (adopted as a survival mechanism) and the crocked and deceiving logic involved in it? How is it that so many people live under the magical spell of self- importance? Or, how can so many people live under the influence, or even the coercion, of an artificial creation of the human psychology? Why would that be so? And, is it just a psychological problem or rather a socio-psychological one? It