13 defense mechanisms for the sophisticated high-achiever:

1. Banality
2. Abstraction
3. Impatience
4. Judgment/Criticism
5. Righteousness
6. Justification
7. Explaining
8. Disinterest
9. Avoidance/Neglect
10. Superiority
11. Intellectualization
12. Politeness/Apologetic
13. Validation/Invalidation

The purpose of a defense mechanism is to protect ourselves from perceived threat. Humans are biologically wired for survival, and fight, flight, and freeze were and still are necessary traits to protect ourselves from actual danger.

• Fight: activated when we evaluate that we are more powerful than our perceived aggressor. 
• Flight: activated if we evaluate that we are not more powerful, but may be faster. 
• Freeze: activated when neither of the above options seem viable.

Most of the sophisticated defense mechanisms listed above are subset qualities of "freeze."

As humans evolve, we have grown to be more sophisticated in the ways in which we protect ourselves, perceiving threat (either real or imagined) while simultaneously being hyper attuned to socially acceptable behavioral mechanisms that will ensure our “safety.” 

Society has also evolved, and has a tricky way of mirroring us perfectly by validating our behavior, even though it's not serving us to continue it.