Hyper ego inflation is a social disorder that often affects a set of people immured within an undesired environment. Studies conducted in the colonial space they call Gambia indicate that hyper-ego inflation leads to serious social intolerance. Renowned social scientist Sawagibi Mbang-Kesseh Wooleng, who led the study on recognizing this social disorder told the Badibu Cassette that symptoms of hyper-ego inflation include:
1- Pervasive feeling of meaningless greatness among the people. This is often manifested in banal claims about one’s lineage because in the warped thinking of the hyper-egoist, if one comes from so-called great people, everyone must treat them as sons and daughters of great people. As if the freaking apple never falls far from the tree!
2- A people afflicted by hyper-ego inflation are easily angered by any criticism but more so when the criticism is of their infallible leaders. The leaders preach tolerance but give a wink and a nod to the most intolerant fanatics of their group.
3- Because hyper-ego inflation corrodes one’s sense of pride, foolish pride becomes very pervasive but is often confused with shame. And so the people are more preoccupied with getting caught than not stealing.
4- Hyper-ego inflation eats away at society’s values and over time, the people’s self-esteem becomes so low that they stop being themselves and insist on being others. The struggle to become what they can never be makes their ego extremely bristle and the people get easily hurt by simple statements like “ stop acting like a Badibunka.”
5- Hyper-ego inflation makes people delude themselves into thinking that they have a monopoly over morality and religion. And so they decide what’s right and wrong and also insist that certain people are destined for hellfire. Any disagreement with their morals or religion hurts their ego. Sawagibi notes that both religious and moral standards are very fluid.
6- Hyper-ego inflation also leads to a dangerous and pervasive level of denial in society. According to Sawagibi, in such a society, wrong depends on who commits it and right depends on who didn’t do right. People take foolish pride in stroking each other’s bristle egos.
Social scientist Sawagibi tells the Badibu Cassette that his study will be called “stupid, boring, senseless…” because the people are in denial!
Alagie Saidy Barrow
