Passion In The Sphere Of Instinct: How Avarice Works In The Conversation Subtype

Avarice is the passion that distinguishes the E5. It is the neurotic need to conserve. The fixation lies in not becoming available to the external world, whether through thoughts, emotions, or objects.

This greed stems from a general experience of precariousness and scarcity. The E5 cannot “let go” of anything because they perceive that the available resources are non-renewable, and therefore, to maintain a certain sense of well-being, it is essential not to waste them.

The neurotic core of the E5 is, in fact, constructed as an early and primitive response to an environment perceived as invasive, threatening, and violent. In an attempt to survive potentially overwhelming pain, the E5 retreats into an existential configuration that minimizes exchanges with the external world to the bare minimum required for survival.

“Nowadays, as soon as I can, I go home, with my things, to my room, where I read or play music or, more simply, stay silent, lying down, as if something had collapsed onto me. I take refuge and recover energy, finding my breath again. I like being alone at home. I need to be in ‘my’ physical space, a refuge — even if it’s small, it doesn’t matter — to recharge my energy.

To conserve, to preserve, it’s necessary not to consume, not to move. The issue is that, in the worst moments, I can reach a point where I truly move nothing, reducing everything to the bare minimum, just enough to ensure my survival. I reduce contact until it’s completely eliminated. I reduce physical activity as if freezing my body. I reduce food with the crazy belief that I can think and fast indefinitely.”

“On a material level, I can be generous, but not with other things. There is a part of me, deep inside, that I never reveal and never talk about with anyone; to protect it, to protect myself, to save, to survive, to save, to survive. Even with the dearest person, there is always that ‘point’ that remains hidden, reserved, locked away.” — MARTHA

In this subtype, the passion interferes with the Self-Preservation instinct and is tied to a primitive anxiety of disintegration. To avoid the unbearable, this individual sacrifices parts of themselves to build a defensive core, breaking in a schizoid way the connection with their own emotional and instinctual world, relying instead on an immature mental container.

The Self-Preserving E5 is greedy with themselves before being greedy with the world. They isolate themselves from their environment, filtering information and emotions, thus limiting their own capacity to learn and grow.

“I don’t care about food. In recent years, I’ve been learning to appreciate flavors, but deep down, I don’t care about eating. I’ve gone through periods where I lost my job, and the first material thing I saved was food; along with clothes, which also don’t interest me. Until a few years ago, I always dressed the same way: I had two identical pairs of pants, two identical shirts, and a pair of shoes. That was enough.” — MARTHA

The Self-Preserving E5 is not connected to pleasure (erotic love) nor does it possess a vital representation of themselves, others, or the world; their essential challenge is to try not to die. Their survival strategy involves a disconnection from human instinct, vitality, and self-realization, aiming to produce a sterile Self-Preservation of internal homeostasis.

“By holding back, I mean that I keep my inner self to myself, even in situations where a relationship or context might allow me to be more open. My inner world is all I have, the resource I cling to in order to survive, and it’s unthinkable for me to share what I’m feeling or thinking. The risk I face is not just about giving myself away and being left with nothing, but, more profoundly, the risk of dying. I keep this private content a secret because it is the only resource I have, and it is scarce.” — MARTHA

This individual is a survivor of repeated emotional shocks and, as such, moves through the world impoverished and numbed, maintaining their balance in a self-referential way.

“Sharing something of mine, something I consider important, feels like losing it. I would no longer have it for myself and, therefore, would be exposed to being trampled on, destroyed, or criticized. Not sharing my treasures allows me to keep what is mine intact, protected, and with the value I attribute to it. There’s this crazy idea of, ‘if I share with you what is important to me, I will have nothing left and will cease to exist.’” — MANUELA

The Self-Preserving E5’s avarice acts as a safeguard of boundaries by canceling out contact. Their inner world is the result of a process of isolation. Away from others and from exchange, they “know” they exist. Interaction with the environment, perceived as manipulative, feeds the threat of the self’s dissolution.

“Some time ago, a friend asked to borrow a scarf I had in my hands to use for a short trip. It was a simple scarf, years old, nothing special. I realized that as I stood there in front of him, motionless, neither saying yes nor no nor anything, his simple request resonated in a very deep place within me. With frozen hands and feet, petrified legs, and barely any breath, I clutched my scarf as if it were the last drop of water on Earth. I didn’t give the scarf to my friend. Then I noticed that, in gripping it so tightly, I had damaged it, something that

illustrates how, by holding back, reducing, and giving up, the process of internal desertification is growing.

If my friend had decided to snatch the scarf from my hand, he could have done so immediately. My posture of strength would only have been valid until the moment he decided to take it. Then, the scarf would have been his. To avoid that, preemptively, I don’t put myself in situations where that risk can arise, at any level.” — MARTHA

“I can’t lend a book because I’m certain it won’t be returned, and I wouldn’t have the courage to ask for it back.” — NICOLA

The Self-Preserving instinct of E5, detached from the experience of the here and now, moves through the passion of avarice toward containment.

“I used to hide to eat, so I wouldn’t have to offend my classmates. One of them asked me for a piece of chocolate, and I didn’t give it to her because I had a limited ration for that week. For me, this response was very natural; it seemed logical to ration food so it wouldn’t run out. I didn’t understand why others didn’t do the same. That’s why I was surprised when they called me selfish.” — RITA

E5 moves through the world as a reduced-functioning organism, convinced that this is how they will survive anything. There is a strong desire to physically conserve energy, to breathe shallowly, and to stiffen the body. Their entire physical experience is an expression of containment: the slim body, the withdrawn posture, the diaphanous and transparent skin, the delicate bones. Even their voice is affected by the passion of containment, in this case of sound: their tone is low and submissive.

The existential routine of the Self-Preserving E5 is marked by an overabundance of energy conservation.

“It’s like being a car with a minimally charged battery, constantly in energy-saving mode, where only basic memory and emergency functions are activated. All operational functions are shut down: only 911 can call me, or I can make calls to emergency numbers. But what’s the point of a phone if I can’t call a friend, enjoy music, or express my thoughts publicly on social media? It’s like living by giving up all the possibilities life offers you. It’s not living—it’s staying still, holding your breath out of fear of dying, but in reality, it’s a pre-death.” — NICOLA

Life experiences are compartmentalized into airtight sections that don’t interact with each other.

“My day is divided between work and study routines and dealing with tasks I consider pending (paperwork, meeting people, resolving work issues). These are things I

don’t want to waste time on because there’s always this desire to save precious time in my world. In my daily routine, I distribute activities into sections or days. For example, one day is dedicated to lesson planning; another, to seeing a friend; afternoons, to walking the dog. And so on. I compartmentalize everything to conserve energy. If I stray from that plan, I lose a lot of energy, and it bothers me.” — CAMILA