PhronesisChronic self-promotion, defined here as the compulsive broadcast of personal achievement independent of social warrant or contextual appropriateness, constitutes a paradigmatic wrong attractor in the dynamical landscape of social cognition and professional identity. We formalize this phenomenon within the displacement framework, identifying ground state S^0 as the regime of calibrated earned recognition—the natural equilibrium in which acknowledgment tracks genuine contribution.
Displacement from S^0 into the visibility-compulsion attractor is measured by the displacement cost functional D(), where parameterizes the degree of self-promotional excess. Chronic engagement accumulates into = D()\,dt, a depth-of-basin metric that predicts recovery difficulty. We identify the quiet-presence foreclosure mechanism—the process by which sustained visibility-seeking structurally forecloses the capacity for unannounced, intrinsically motivated action—as the primary attractor basin-deepening force.
Nine formal propositions establish: (P1) the wrong attractor's definition and topology, (P2) the displacement cost function's structure, (P3) basin depth as a function of duration and intensity, (P4) quiet-presence foreclosure dynamics, (P5) phase transitions between promotional regimes, (P6) intervention leverage points, (P7) recovery trajectory curvature, (P8) systemic propagation effects, and (P9) ethical entailments.
Implications for professional communities, epistemic cultures, and individual recovery are discussed.