I am Rafael, psychologist. And I saw myself a lot in this character who is INTROVERTED and SELF- SABOTADOR. Today we are going to talk about FUSHIGURO MEGUMI.
There are spoilers from the anime, not from the manga. Come on! I identified a lot with the character in many ways.
He's someone there who has a HIGH DEGREE OF INTROVERSION, but he's not necessarily shy, like, for example, TAMAKI and HINATA, who I've already talked about here on the channel. So, like, I identified a lot with him. When I saw that he wore wolves I got even more excited.
Wow — straight talk — character that uses WOLF, uses ICE, has WHITE HAIR. Like so much! One day I will create a character like that, for sure.
MEGUMI has no problem speaking what he wants and being a LEADER at times. INTROVERSION DOESN'T HATE HIM IN THIS. And at this point it's more like GOJO, except there's a gulf between the BEHAVIORAL DIFFERENCES between the two.
GOJO, as I said here on the channel, is kind of the ESSENCE OF CHARISMA. MEGUMI not so much. However, his INTROVERTED way DOES NOT PREVENT him from MAKING DECISIONS and IMPOSING HIMSELF at times.
AT LEAST MOST OF THE TIMES. Like, for example, when he clearly decides that he wants ITADORI to survive. Many studies show HOW MUCH CHILDHOOD INFLUENCES OUR BEHAVIOR.
MALTREATMENT, NEGLIGENCE, all these relate to HIGHER ANXIETY RATES, AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR, DEPRESSION, among others, showing how important this phase is for us. And AKUTAMI was very emphatic on that when developing this character. A character who has STRONG BASIS in his BEHAVIOR, derived from his own INF NCIA.
It is very likely that you who are watching this video right now have been impacted by some important childhood event, BOTH POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE. A VIOLENCE at this stage, for example, can IMPACT the functioning of our LIMBIC SYSTEM which is a part of the brain whose function is to coordinate our SOCIAL ACTIVITIES. MEGUMI looks like he DIDN'T SUFFER VIOLENCE, or anything like that at that stage, but he suffered LOSS.
LOSSES that impacted his way of INTERACTING WITH THE WORLD. Psychologists MARIA FRANCO and LUCIANA MAZORRA spoke about the IMPACT OF A LOSS at this time of life. The DEATH of one of the PARENTS is one of the MOST STANDING experiences in the experience of a CHILD.
In this situation, she is faced with helplessness and IMPOTENCE, loses the world she knew and starts to be in mourning. From the grief, BEFORE DEATH, the child will REBUILD, and this is a GREAT EMOTIONAL CHALLENGE. MEGUMI'S SISTER TSUMIKI becomes THE ONLY PERSON IN HIS LIFE there.
His only FAMILY and also there is the person who tries to PROTECT HIM, and surely all this could influence, yes, the PERSONALITY OF THE MEGUMI that grows AVOIDING having GREATER CLOSENESS with other people. MEGUMI has also lived with a kind of PRESSURE from an early age, largely because it inherited a DAMNED HEREDITARY TECHNIQUE from the ZENIN FAMILY —the TEN SHADOWS TECHNIQUE— which may have made him SABORATE HIMSELF at times. The expression “YOU ARE YOUR WORST ENEMY” rings as true, sometimes, to us.
And how many times do we act against our OWN INTEREST, however counterintuitive it may seem, then we ask ourselves "YUMMY, WHY ARE WE DOING THIS? " And MEGUMI lives precisely on this threshold between INTROVERSION and SABOTAGE. INTROVERSION is the clearest feature of MEGUMI.
Almost always ALONE, almost always LISTENING MORE THAN TALKING, almost always preferring NOT TO GIVE YOUR OPINION, almost always awash in his OWN SELF. Have you identified yourself? We are together!
INTROVERSION and EXTROVERSION, which were terms created by JUNG, refer to how much better someone FEELS ABOUT THE OTHER. The INTROVERT prefers to be WITH HIMSELF and the EXTROVERT prefers a greater SOCIAL CONTACT. We all have specters of each of them.
We are NOT 100% INTROVERTED or 100% EXTROVERTED, that is, someone who is very INTROVERTED also has their EXTROVERSION MOMENTS. In JUNG's view, we needed to seek energy, BOTH OUTSIDE AND IN, to be FULL PEOPLE. And MEGUMI goes through just WHAT INTROVERTED PEOPLE USUALLY EXPERIENCE with others.
He had to hear phrases like “WOW, YOU TALK A LITTLE ABOUT YOURSELF”. In some moments of the ANIME he seems to want a DISTANCE to SOLVE HIS PROBLEMS. And that others CANNOT UNDERSTAND sometimes.
He has what many INTROVERTS identify as GREATER SELECTIVITY IN THEIR BOND CHOICES. Someone with GREATER EXTROVERSION characteristics tends to have a GREATER EASE to make friends with people. This is the case of ITADORI.
It's a kind of CHARISMA. If ITADORI gets on a bus, he leaves there with his own carnival block of SO EASY he can MAKE FRIENDS. THE INTROVERT NO.
We will never know the real type of woman that MEGUMI likes, as I believe he DID NOT SPEAK THE TRUTH to ALL. The INTROVERT is less SENSORY. This is illustrated by a 1984 study by RUSSEL GEEN, a professor of psychology, who asked 70 EXTROVERTS and 70 INTROVERTS to select the NOISE LEVELS they preferred while performing a task.
EXTROVERTS chose significantly LOUD MUSIC than INTROVERTS. Which is in line with the idea that they are looking for more SENSORY STIMULATION. AND BOTH when working with this chosen sound level did GOOD PERFORMANCE.
GEEN then changed the noise levels between the groups so that INTROVERTS now heard the loudest music and vice versa. At this point, the EXTROVERTS became MORE BORED, the INTROVERTED ones became ANNOYED, and the PERFORMANCE of the task WAS WORSE in both groups. This shows, a little, how the INTROVERTED prefers to work ALONE, to be alone, which sometimes generates a FEELING OF UNPREDICTABILITY in others who sometimes do not understand this, which is what happens with MEGUMI.
And when he actually decides to speak, he almost always expresses a VERY DEEP THOUGHT. He has a PHILOSOPHY that THE WORLD IS INEQUAL AND UNFAIR and that INEQUALITY is the ONLY thing people hold for EQUAL. That thought reminded me, in a lighter way, of course, of the character RUST COHLE from TRUE DETECTIVE, mainly on the issue of PESSIMISM, only he tries to do something about it.
He wants there to make the most of people ENJOY THE EQUALITY OF THE LAW. And even though he doesn't see the world with AS ROMANTIC vision as ITADORI, and he believes, in fact, that the world is UNFAIR, he still tries to do something to REDUCE it. That's what moves him, for example, hitting a bunch of people in a GANG.
Yeah, I think MEGUMI would solve TAKEMICHI's problems fast. But unlike ITADORI, he helps those he thinks DESERVE TO BE HELPED and not everyone else. Here comes a point: FUSHIGURO doesn't seem to BELIEVE very much in HIMSELF at times.
A kind of SELF SABOTAGE. I believe everyone has heard that expression. Neuropsychologist JUDY HO says that SELF-SABOTAGE occurs when the desire to REDUCE THREATS exceeds the DRIVE TO ACHIEVE GOALS.
People are not always aware that they are SABOTTING themselves. As happens, in fact, with MEGUMI, who is surprised when GOJO tells him that he doesn't know how to have AMBITION. In other words, it's as if you recognize that there's something out there that you really want and believe is good for you, but you do things that CONFLICT directly with that AIM.
And this issue of MEGUMI is almost an UNCONSCIOUS SELF SABOTAGE which is when you do something that undermines a GOAL or a VALUE, but you don't realize it until after the fact HAPPENS. For example, people who are AFRAID OF FAILING AT WORK, for example, often DEVELOP AN UNCONSCIOUS HABIT of being late at work, doing sometimes sloppy work, as a way to avoid, for example, a promotion, because then there would be a INCREASED RESPONSIBILITY which would lead to higher expectations and therefore A GREATER CHANCE OF FAILURE. In baseball, MEGUMI SACRIFIES itself there to BENEFIT THE GROUP and GOJO exalts that in him, this participation in group work, but he says a striking phrase "NO MATTER HOW MANY ALLIES YOU HAVE, WHEN YOU DIE, YOU DIE ALONE".
In that fight against a CURSE that is STRONGER there, MEGUMI remembers SATORU GOJO's lessons about AMBITION, about looking to EVOLVE MORE. GOJO tries there to GUIDE THE MEGUMI for it to DEVELOP more. And it's curious that it even fits his SHIKIGAMIS technique.
Because just think: when one of his SHIKIGAMI dies, this one binds to the other making this other SHIKIGAMI even STRONGER. Maybe this undermines even more THE MEGUMI SABOTAGE which has a kind of SAFETY there about this technique and after he remembers those words of the GOJO he basically RELEASES there and manages to activate his DOMAIN EXPANSION, revealing another side, ONE SIDE MORE EXPRESSIVE. At that moment, he breaks what we call the EMOTIONAL BASELINE, precisely to MATCH that situation.
SELF-EFFECTIVENESS, much brought up by Canadian psychologist ALBERT BANDURA, which would basically be THE BELIEF OF THE INDIVIDUAL ABOUT THEIR CAPACITIES in certain situations, can explain this SABORATING BEHAVIOR OF THE MEGUMI, which could indeed have a LOW SELF-EFFECTIVE thought there that makes people NOT DEVELOP their potential and deprive themselves of REWARDING experiences, as they doubt their capacity and avoid the possible frustration of not being able to perform a certain activity. And this is precisely related to what we said at the beginning of the INF NCIA video, since BANDURA says that SELF-EFFECTIVENESS begins to be cultivated and validated in this period of life. PEOPLE LIKE MEGUMI ARE MISUNDERSTOOD sometimes.
It's like an OBLIGATION that they always have to EXPRESS themselves, always SPEAK WHAT YOU'RE FEELING, try to be like the MAJORITY. However, this is not true and these people just want to have their own SPACE, where she can express herself in the way she thinks is best. EVEN BECAUSE THE PEOPLE ARE NOT EQUAL.
And believe me, this is one of the wonders of the world. Like, subscribe, share. It's just the beginning.
