Love the line about the superficial damage to a car! lol
Thinking out loud here in response to your essay: Thinking about anything on a deeper level can lead to thinking deeply about oneself, very scary for some. I think that is part of why they stay on the surface. So a superficial person does little to no self-reflection, and never learns how to correct mean self-serving behavior.
Thank you for writing this. It gave me food for thought for breakfast.