The Unpersuadables Aand the Heretics

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i was so zoomed out from what we are that i started to freak out that we even are anything. I don't know if you did it on purpose, or that' just me projecting a lot of me into it,. It came through in a lot of areas of the book. Ye, i got that sense as well. But s kind of gave me this, the science journalism version of some sort of love crafty and horror feeling. Do you, i wonder if this, like, is that sort of an arc you feel like you've been on? Cause i there's a thread of a couple of different pursuits thatyou've been on as a a science writer.

In this episode we welcome back author Will Storr whose new book, The Status Game, feels like required reading for anyone confused, curious, or worried about how politics, cults, conspiracy theories communities, social media, religious fundamentalism, polarization, and extremism are affecting us - everywhere, on and offline, across cultures, and across the world.

What is The Status Game? It’s our primate propensity to perpetually pursue points that will provide a higher level of regard among the people who can (if we provoked such a response) take those points away. And deeper still, it’s the propensity to, once we find a group of people who regularly give us those points, care about what they think more than just about anything else.

In the interview, we discuss our inescapable obsession with reputation and why we are deeply motivated to avoid losing this game through the fear of shame, ostracism, embarrassment, and humiliation while also deeply motivated to win this game by earning what will provide pride, fame, adoration, respect, and status.