The internet is very effective at singing song derision, right? Yeah. It's a gossip network and it does trim the sales and reduce status in order to try to encourage more virtuous and more communal behavior. And we can see the tribe circling the prized hunter and singing a song of derision when Elon Musk or Bezos or Mark Zuckerberg is acting like a selfish prick. In those cases, this brings to mind a quote from John Lennon of The Beatles, who I believe said, The Beatles stop being a band when we stop going into record stores and trying to improve on our favorite singles.
“Life is a game. There’s no way to understand the human world without first understanding this. Everyone alive is playing a game whose hidden rules are built into us and that silently directs our thoughts, beliefs and actions. This game is inside us. It is us. We can’t help but play.”
So begins “The Status Game,” a new book by acclaimed writer Will Storr.
He continues: “We play for status, if only subtly, with every social interaction, every contribution we make to work, love or family life and every internet post. We play with how we dress, how we speak and what we believe. … Life is not a journey towards a perfect destination. It’s a game that never ends. And it’s the very worst of us.”
Does it have to be?
We may not be able to quit the status game, but Will says we can learn to play it better. In this episode, he explains how.
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