Interesting! So instead of trying to come out on top as Alpha, one can just avoid being ranked entirely. Does that work with humans? It seems like this is something many introverts would prefer.
Also, to what degree can one prevent oneself from unconsciously ranking others? Are there / could there be (in actuality, as opposed to pretense) such things as status-free social groups? And if so, is that a good thing?
My guess is that mobs where everyone is anonymous are relatively social status free, and we know there are both positive and negative side effects to that. Is anonymity required for a status-free group to exist though?
It’s intuitively sensible because even if you’re unranked you know you’re not the Alpha, therefore you have some sort of rank. You’ll probably still have to play some status games.
Zed, thank you for that link! I wish I could vote this up to 20. That ribbonfarm post goes deeply into the topic, but more than that, the whole blog itself is a goldmine that I didn’t even know existed.
Interesting! So instead of trying to come out on top as Alpha, one can just avoid being ranked entirely. Does that work with humans? It seems like this is something many introverts would prefer.
Also, to what degree can one prevent oneself from unconsciously ranking others? Are there / could there be (in actuality, as opposed to pretense) such things as status-free social groups? And if so, is that a good thing?
My guess is that mobs where everyone is anonymous are relatively social status free, and we know there are both positive and negative side effects to that. Is anonymity required for a status-free group to exist though?
Technically, when you avoid being ranked you don’t avoid being ranked entirely. See Marx’s Laws Of Status Illegibility
It’s intuitively sensible because even if you’re unranked you know you’re not the Alpha, therefore you have some sort of rank. You’ll probably still have to play some status games.
Zed, thank you for that link! I wish I could vote this up to 20. That ribbonfarm post goes deeply into the topic, but more than that, the whole blog itself is a goldmine that I didn’t even know existed.