Aretae

The virtue of excellence

Monday, December 6, 2010

Monkeybrains question

Is the status hierarchy EVER called out by the high-status folks? Or are folks who are high-status in their system naturally unable/unmotivated to see the monkeytribe for what it is?
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2 comments:

cephalicfurrow said...

A person who has always been high-status has little reason to entertain theories that call into question the legitimacy of the status quo; a low-status person is very willing to believe such theories.

One exception, though, is people who were once low status and now wield power. Such people could be expected to have emotional reactions to status that carry over from their low-status days, and push back against the common status displays. Many startups cultivate a non-hierarchical structure, and though you could explain this away as a signal of power and nonconformism by their CEOs, I think part of it does arise from a deep-seated distrust of status differentials.

December 6, 2010 at 10:33 AM
salemdamluji said...

Status exists upon multiple axes. People who are high status in one hierarchy are extremely motivated to call out other status hierarchies (e.g. kings calling out priestly status, feminist professors calling out the status of dead white men, etc).

Less frequently, people also call out their own status hierarchy, and even status itself, but frequently this is a (paradoxical) bid for status.

December 6, 2010 at 12:21 PM

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