Not sure if related, but I often get angry at people doing things that make them look like idiots in my eyes, but I have a suspicion they would impress a random bystander positively.
As an example, imagine a computer programmer speaking things that you as a fellow programmer recognize as a complete bullshit, or at best as wild exaggerations of random things that impressed the person… but for someone who does not understand programming at all, they might (I am not sure) sound very knowledgeable, unlike the silent types like me. -- I don’t know if they really impress the outsiders positively or not. I can’t well imagining myself not having the knowledge I have, and I am also not good at guessing how other people react to the tone of voice or whatever other information they may collect from the talk about topic they don’t understand. -- I just perceive the danger that the person may sound more impressive than me, and… well, as an employee, my quality of life depends on the impressions of people who can’t measure my output separately from the output of the team containing also the other person.
Also, again not sure if related, when I get angry at someone, when I analyze the situation I usually find that they are better than me in something. In the specific situation above, it would be “an ability to impress people who completely don’t understand my work”. This is easy to miss, if I remain focused only on the “they speak nonsense” part. But the truth is their speaking nonsense does not make me angry; it’s relatively easy to ignore, and it would not bother me if I did not perceive a threat.
So, for your situation: are you afraid that the “people playing the status game with (supposedly) poor skill” might still win some status at your expense? If yes, the angry reaction is obvious: you are in a situation where you could lose, but you could also win; which is the best situation to invest your energy in. (Imagine an alternative universe, where the person trying to play the status game is completely harmless and ridiculous, and everyone openly agrees on that. Would you feel the same anger?)
Not sure if related, but I often get angry at people doing things that make them look like idiots in my eyes, but I have a suspicion they would impress a random bystander positively.
As an example, imagine a computer programmer speaking things that you as a fellow programmer recognize as a complete bullshit, or at best as wild exaggerations of random things that impressed the person… but for someone who does not understand programming at all, they might (I am not sure) sound very knowledgeable, unlike the silent types like me. -- I don’t know if they really impress the outsiders positively or not. I can’t well imagining myself not having the knowledge I have, and I am also not good at guessing how other people react to the tone of voice or whatever other information they may collect from the talk about topic they don’t understand. -- I just perceive the danger that the person may sound more impressive than me, and… well, as an employee, my quality of life depends on the impressions of people who can’t measure my output separately from the output of the team containing also the other person.
Also, again not sure if related, when I get angry at someone, when I analyze the situation I usually find that they are better than me in something. In the specific situation above, it would be “an ability to impress people who completely don’t understand my work”. This is easy to miss, if I remain focused only on the “they speak nonsense” part. But the truth is their speaking nonsense does not make me angry; it’s relatively easy to ignore, and it would not bother me if I did not perceive a threat.
So, for your situation: are you afraid that the “people playing the status game with (supposedly) poor skill” might still win some status at your expense? If yes, the angry reaction is obvious: you are in a situation where you could lose, but you could also win; which is the best situation to invest your energy in. (Imagine an alternative universe, where the person trying to play the status game is completely harmless and ridiculous, and everyone openly agrees on that. Would you feel the same anger?)