The ego voice begins to make itself heard, when a baby realizes that he has a distinct identity from his mother.
The famous temper of a two years old? For something or nothing and a toy that has been refused? Ego.
And the most part of the education we give a kid, to enable him to be an emotionally balanced adult, is to teach him that no, the stars don’t gravitate around his navel.
And no, neither does the moon.
The manipulator, whatever his cleverness might be, hasn’t jumped this fence.