A Psychological Analysis Of The Core Archetypes
In September 2021, I wrote a piece called “Bitcoiners Are The Remnant, The Masses Don’t Matter.”
It was inspired by the incredible 1930s essay by Albert J Nock, “Isaiah’s Job.”
In it, I covered the differentiation between two broad archetypes, (the Remnant and the masses) and made the case for why Bitcoiners are the former, while the general, the lemming-like population is the latter. I used it to present some ideas on selective adoption versus “mass adoption,” how zero-to-one moments happen, and how trends then perdure with the inertia-like force of the lagging masses.
I also took a moment to explore the Remnant within the “Great Stories,” particularly some of the best of our era, such as “The Matrix” and “Fight Club.”
The idea of the Remnant is generally thought of as a biblical one, but its essence is far older and permeates all of human existence. The story of the Remnant is the story of the survivor, the hero, the pioneer and the noble individual. It’s been with us from the beginning of time, and will be there until the end.
Ayn Rand, one of history’s most powerful thinkers, depicted them as the “Prime Movers,” or “Men Of The Mind,” particularly in “Atlas Shrugged” and “The Fountainhead.” She also juxtaposed them against those who she described as the “moochers” and the “looters.” It is here where I want to dig a little further.
My initial article lacked an exploration of each archetype’s psyche and did not accurately differentiate a third and very important archetype: the parasite.
This is perhaps why some people got triggered, calling me “elitist,” “Klaus Schwab’s spawn,” “megalomaniac,” etc. Of course, those comments came mainly from lemmings who have bought into the idea of being a homogenous part of the masses, or from natural parasites who are always threatened by that which is true. And that’s fine.
In this second part, I hope to trigger them further, while providing a little clarification for a few of the “Dormant Remnant” seeking it.
Rand’s work has been a great inspiration for me, not just because of the ideals and strength of her message, but for how eloquent and precise she was in designing characters that embodied attributes of each of the three archetypes. Her protagonists embodied the values and virtues of the ideal man or woman, the antagonists were flawed, fearful parasites, and they were presented against a backdrop of hopeless masses who, while often good at heart, were weaponized by the parasites (to their own detriment).
I will use this model to describe and explore each of the general archetypal psyches in the great game of life.
Do with it what you will. Glean from it what you can. Be offended if that’s your thing, or be inspired if you’re a Remnant.
The Remnant
Before we delve into who these parasites are, or why the masses do what they do, let’s review the archetype that matters: the Remnant.
While I was riffing on a Bitcoin Magazine Spaces about the prior article, an idea formed in my mind. The idea is that the number of Remnant out there is much larger than we know, and the ratio of those who are versus those who need to be unplugged is probably also an 80-to-20-type of distribution.
In other words, within the broader 20% of the distribution of humans who are “Remnants,” perhaps only 20% are “active,” and of those, 20% may be considered “radical.” It’s basically 80/20 all the way down.
It’s turtles all the way down man… Source.
Of course, we can take this to an extreme and continue segmenting until we discover the one true Remnant of the Remnant’s Remnant’s Remnant’s Remnant, but that would be ridiculous. So let’s focus on three broad classifications:
1. The Dormant Remnant
2. The Active Remnant
3. The Radical Remnant
The Dormant Remnant
If 20% of humans are archetypically “Remnant” material, then 80% of them are dormant.
They are either bogged down in jobs they don’t like, they’ve been subject to poor parenting, they’ve been indoctrinated at school or by the media, they live in broken societies or are in some way, shape or form hampered by their environment (nurture).
They are in “The Matrix,” yet to be unplugged, but have that itch, that splinter in their mind telling them that “something is off.”
They are the really gifted engineer or artist who you know, who’s just about there, and has all the ingredients to be great, but has not taken that leap of faith. Perhaps they’ve bought into some garbage ideology that they’re a slave to society and that their self interest does not matter.
In some cases, they’re partially red-pilled individuals, awake enough to know that we’re living in a clown world simulation, but are yet to take the orange pill, i.e., they are pre-Bitcoiners.
As with all things, it’s a numbers game. There are more Dormant Remnant than there are Active Remnant. They are “the silent majority,” but when push comes to shove, they will line up on the right side of history, intuitively and instinctually.
If the signal is strong, pure and direct enough, it will wake them from their slumber. These are the ones we must focus on unplugging. These are the people who will actually listen, and not just passively hear only to ignore.
The Active Remnant
These are the 20% of the 20%, those who have taken the orange pill. Those who are out of “The Matrix,” who have woken up, who have seen the endless fields of human batteries with their own eyes, and can now see beyond the lies and propaganda. They can not only identify that which is true, but can articulate it.
They are the intolerant minority. The 4% of the whole who make up the last bastion of hope and freedom. They make up Zion.
A member of the Active Remnant is most likely a Bitcoiner. No, that does not mean some lemming who bought a bitcoin IOU on PayPal for the USD gains. That means a Bitcoiner who knows why we’re here, may be running a node, is orange pilling their loved ones, respects private property, freedom, responsibility and independence, and refuses to bend over to the blind mandates of the parasitic class.
If you’re reading this, you’re probably in this group.
The Radical Remnant
This final category is the 20% of the 20% of the 20%.
These are the natural elites, the true 1%, the leaders, the renegades, the fearless warriors on the frontlines who not only refuse to back down, but who march forward, despite the insurmountable odds, reminding all Remnants that the truth is worth dying for.
They are the 300, William Wallace, Alexander the Great, Nikola Tesla, Isaac Newton, Galileo, Steve Jobs, Morpheus, Neo and Trinity.
The Spartans vs. the Arcadians. Source: MakeAGif.com.
Despite being the ultimate minority (less than 1%), they set the standard. They set the pace and they drive progress. Like the very tip of the spear, they pierce the veil, allowing the rest of the arrow to enter, followed by the inertia and weight of the staff (the masses).
It’s reminiscent of the ancient warrior fable (I cannot remember where I have heard it): In any group of 100;
Ten should not be there and will die immediately,Eighty are just taking up space,Ten will know how to fight,And of those 10, one warrior will make all the difference.
This warrior is the Radical Remnant. And while he may not inherit the earth, for he is often a martyr, he shall be remembered forever. It may be tragic, but that is his role, and he accepts it, dons his armor and strides forth with the courage of a lion.
Where Does One Find The Remnant?
As God said to Isaiah, you can be sure of two things:
The Remnant existsThey will find you
The Remnant are out there. I meet them wherever I go. They come up to greet me and tell me the message rang true. Whether at a conference, at a dinner, in my DMs, on a Twitter Spaces or that one other guy at the airport who also refuses to wear his mask. You know who you are.
As the clown world simulation continues to erode the fabric of reality, we must remember that it is we who shall inherit the earth, for we are the “meek” in the ancient sense of the term which Jordan Peterson helped me re-define:
The meek are “those who have swords, know how to use them, but choose to keep them sheathed.”
Post every catastrophe or grand cycle, it is those who remain by virtue of being prepared or through sheer will and strength of character who are defined as the Remnant. It is they who shall inherit the earth… alongside a few lucky sheeple who happened to trip over and fall into paradise.
So, find the Remnant. Build bonds with them, strengthen ties. If you’re not sure where they are, here are some hints:
BitcoinersEntrepreneursHealersTinkerersEngineersArtistsFightersBodybuildersBitcoin Twitter
Of course, use discretion. The masses have flooded every layer of society, as have the parasites. A pareto-type distribution will likely apply here too, so seek authenticity.
The Parasite
This is the archetype that I did not describe in part one. Rand called them the “moochers.” Most people call them the “elites,” which is fundamentally incorrect, because to be elite implies one is exceptional at something.
Parasites are those who have failed to compete on merit and must concoct methods of extraction that benefit themselves at the expense of another. In other words, they are a net negative on the system.
I’ve been on a crusade to re-classify the best of us as elite, while applying the word “parasite” where it belongs. I even wrote an entire piece about it two years ago:
Who are they?
The way I see it, the masses are still 80% and the Remnant are 20%, but a subset of each seem to devolve into the type of human who subsists by extracting value from the system.
They are either:
A failed RemnantA slightly more capable, but deeply envious member of the masses
If a Remnant, they were unable to compete in the free market of merit so they instead applied their skill and ingenuity toward stealing from others better than they. If a member of the masses, they bought into the victimhood mindset espoused by midwits like Marx and decided it would be better to band together and steal from their superiors, instead of learning from and working alongside them to become better humans.
They have proliferated in the modern, fiat-driven clown world because broken incentives enable the growth of parasites, much like a poor diet makes for an environment where they grow in your body, and unclean places allow them to proliferate in nature or especially man made regions.
Their most powerful innovation is proof of stake, and their crowning achievement is fiat money.
Proof Of Stake
Proof of work is the law by which the Remnant lives. In fact, so too do the masses in general, despite them being largely unconscious of it, and many being desirous of getting something for nothing.
Proof of stake was designed by parasites as a mechanism via which they can extract wealth from the system without having to work. In fact, over millennia of generations, they have become so allergic to work that the level of parasitic concoction has reached heights never before seen, the “Democratic state” being one of the primary examples:
You cannot steal from the homeless man because he has nothing to takeStealing from the masses is cute, but there’s not much there to takeStealing from the Remnant is the most profitable and thus optimized for by the parasites
Whatever the name, and however it may disguise itself, you can always recognize the parasite and their ploy when they refer to the “emancipation of the masses” and rally them around a cause to bring down more productive members of society who just want to be left the fuck alone.
“Tax the rich” comes to mind from parasites such as AOC, a failed model who too closely resembled Donkey from “Shrek,” and so became a waitress. Perhaps she got fired for doing something dumb, or was just envious of a boss who likely had worked an extra decade to build a business, thus earning more, so she then decided to go off and join the elaborate game of theft known as politics. The ultimate game of the parasite.
Bureaucrats, politicians, central planners and modern bankers, they are all the parasite class.
They’ll always use the message of “we’re all in this together” to fool the sheeple into believing a lie, and weaponizing their fear toward more theft and pressure on the Remnant.
The Psychopath
According to liberation psychologist and Bitcoiner Nozomi Hayase, the parasites of the world resemble a class of psychologically-variant human known as a psychopath.
This is someone who lacks that innate wiring for empathy and as a result does not see, feel or experience the world through the same lens.
I recently recorded a podcast with her which has challenged my views on the prevalence of nurture alone in the psyche of a parasite.
Perhaps there are people born who are fundamentally and naturally predisposed to behave in a particular way, devoid of empathic values and, as such, function more like an incentive-driven machine. They may be more likely to not only thrive in a fiat society, but look to enhance that type of environment so that they can take full advantage of it.
And while this may suit their ends in the short term, or for whatever timeline they see fit, life developed empathy, love and a void that binds in humans as a way to exist on a longer time frame, and perhaps one that might even transcend the temporal.
I don’t know — but I will definitely be following Hayase’s work and dig deeper into this in part three of the Remnant series.
Where Does One Find The Parasites?
In the cracks and crevices where value is being created, progress is being made and innovation is occurring. Parasites require true progress and wealth creation to extract from, and the greater the progress or wealth, the easier they can camouflage themselves and their processes.
Furthermore, if the relationship between parasites and psychopaths is accurate, then their inherent nature means that they look for places to hide.
Bureaucracies, proof of stake and stale, hierarchical institutions are examples of where these cancerous cells can be found, and the following examples are variations of how the cancer manifests:
GovernmentCentral bankingRegulatorsModern bankingMiddle management“Crypto”Modern Wall StreetModern hedge funds
Note the kinds of people that work in these “committees.”
Rand depicted them brilliantly, eloquently and accurately in “Atlas Shrugged,” e.g., Jim Taggart, Robert Stadler, Wesley Mouch and Lillian Rearden.
In real life, they are Janet Yellens, Christine Lagardes, Joe Bidens and the like. Raoul Pal is also a great real-world example of the Parasite, masquerading as a Remnant, and fooling only the masses.
In a free market, we must continue to call out the scammers.
There is a reason why the committee man or woman hates bitcoin. There is no committee, there is no room for them. They are unable to concoct elaborate plans in which they can slowly extract the wealth others have created.
Sure, bureaucracies will exist on a Bitcoin standard, and I’m sure there will be many parasites across every industry and dimension of human existence, but the difference is this:
On a Bitcoin standard, bureaucracies go bankrupt. They cannot grow into the abominations we see around us today, in which useless idiots work bullshit jobs just to pretend like they’re doing something, when in fact, they’re leeches.
On a Bitcoin standard, the organization with the most inefficient bureaucracy and the greatest infestation of parasites dies. It does not “live long and prosper.”
This is the inherent natural advantage of an economic standard rooted in reality, one which exists as proof of work, one which is time incarnate — energy money.
The parasite cannot survive, let alone thrive in such a place.
The Masses
Herein referred to as “sheep” or “lemmings,” they are simultaneously the most innocuous and most dangerous of all — innocuous in a functional society because they add their two sats of value and continue on living, sometimes excelling and rising up, but mostly remaining average; dangerous in a fiat society (e.g., democracy) for their stupidity, fear, envy and lack of character which is most easily weaponized.
“But remember that the Captain belongs to the most dangerous enemy to truth and freedom, the solid and unmoving cattle of the majority. Oh, God, the terrible tyranny of the majority.”
–Faber to Montag, “Fahrenheit 451” by Ray Bradbury
There is not a lot to explore in the minds of the masses, for they are largely mindless. You find them working bullshit jobs, like as a TSA agent, bag packer at a grocery store or a “mask checker” at airport and shopping mall entrances.
They are the kinds of people who consume a consistent diet of CNN, Facebook, Netflix, Uber Eats, Real Vision and McDonalds, while idolizing the lowest kinds of bipedal creatures, whether they be Anthony Fauci, Pal, Lagarde or Biden.
They value conformity and certainty above all else. They believe compliance is a virtue, and will signal it with all their pathetic might. They will believe whatever they’re told by their overlords, and will be the first to “dob” or “snitch” on their neighbors for the “illegal act” of having family members over for Thanksgiving during a fake pandemic.
The image below depicts them in all of their glory:
Thanksgiving 2021, source.
Pablo, a good friend of mine, helped me analogize the masses really well during a conversation in El Salvador. They are the “people” who operate as if the orders are reality, and when confronted with an actual reality that does not conform or fit within the model they’ve been ordered to follow, they begin to malfunction and repeat themselves like mindless, broken automatons.
The image that comes to mind is of a Roomba repeatedly running into a wall.
The masses. Source: MakeAGif.com.
I don’t know what else to say about them here other than that the only Earth they shall inherit is either the one the Remnant or the parasite manifest. They will be oblivious as to how it came about and largely indifferent toward whether it’s right, wrong or neutral. For their sake, and for ours, and for the survival of humanity, one can only hope the Remnant prevails.
Otherwise, we have the following to look forward to:
Exceptions To The Rule
There may be exceptions to the rule… perhaps.
The complexity and multi-dimensionality of humans means it is hard to generalize who might be a Remnant, a parasite or member of the masses.
The truth is that everybody can be exceptional at something. We’re all unique and the application of our intent and effort toward a particular end can lead us not only to mastery of our craft, but to renown for what we do and a deep sense of fulfilment.
Mastery = Internal driver of the Remnant archetypeRenown = External signal to other RemnantsFulfilment = The reward
So one could argue that people are all remnants in their own field, and while I would agree, I’m not sure this is a mastery of a unique craft question, despite how enticing it is to hope that we are all “Remnants.”
Yes, we are all good at our own unique thing, but “Remnant” is a character. There is something innate about it. It’s an energy and an instinct. It’s a natural frame. It seems to represent the zeitgeist of the time, in whatever era it emerges.
So, in my mind, it goes beyond a “craft” or an “input” and is more a way of being.
Of course, character is a blend of nature and nurture. So, through conditioning, perhaps Remnant values can be learned and acquired. Nobody knows what the mix of nature and nurture is when it comes to “character,” but this is of course where incentives matter because they set the framework for the development of either a morality or immorality.
So, this is a tough one. A large part of me would argue there will always be a class of exceptional humans in a sea of average ones. But perhaps this is just a function of our path to becoming whole humans (individually and collectively speaking).
Becoming Human
Hayase made another very critical point in the latest podcast I recorded with her.
She argued that we as a species are still “becoming” human and the price we must pay on this journey is the struggle and victory over a fiat Matrix existence being foisted upon us by the psychopathic‘“elite,” who I’ve suggested are the parasites.
I agree with this sentiment insofar as the role the parasite plays is like the snake in the Garden of Eden. They exist to keep the Remnant sharp, to awaken them and to inadvertently force them to evolve. Like the sand which transforms the oyster’s grit into a pearl or the pressure that turns the coal into a diamond.
Natural selection does not necessarily happen because of us, but happens through us, and the emergence of a parasitic environment filled with a blend of dumb, blind automatons on one side and psychopathic energy vampires on the other is part of the process of enlightenment.
In fact, I echoed this in a recent podcast with Max Keiser where I said that:
“If this mass psychosis is the price we need to pay for humanity to get onto a Bitcoin standard and transcend the fiat shackles, then so be it.”
Arguably, the grand role of evil is to keep “good” honest. To make good more conscious, more whole and more antifragile.
Without the external stimulus of the snake in the garden, then good is merely innocent, and innocence is the first to perish. In that light, I have one final way to define who the Remnants are:
They are the earthly beings striving to become “whole,” integrated humans. On the journey to become the best version of themselves, they must combine the most functional attributes of the empathetic, soulful human and the rational, empirical, incentive-driven, primal animal, who in many ways is manifested in the psychopath.
They are like the paradox that is Bitcoin: a network of sovereign individuals working in their own interest, that is simultaneously a prospering of the commons — a harmonic manifestation of altruistic selfishness.
The Remnant has the capacity for malevolence, has even cultivated it for use as and when needed. They have integrated the shadow. They are the conscious, aware monster that keeps their aggression and ferocity in check. They are the meek who have swords and know how to use them, but choose to keep them sheathed… until the time comes.
The Remnant endures because they are the greatest, most advanced version of life and are that which remains after each necessary cleanse on this evolutionary path.
It’s a beautiful thing.
The Remnant series will continue with part three in December, in which we will explore the game theory and relational dynamics between each of the core archetypes.
This is a guest post by Aleks Svetski of www.amber.app. Opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.
Source: https://bitcoinmagazine.com/culture/remnant-bitcoiners-vs-parasites-and-masses
