I don’t think it’s implausible to believe that people pay more attention to those who have higher status than themselves, and less attention to those who have lower status. Furthermore, I believe in the snafu principle (people don’t give accurate information if they’ll be punished for it*).
I would like to point out that Yvain’s post that progressive like to site elsewhere in this thread makes the exact opposite argument.
I would like to point out that Yvain’s post that progressive like to site elsewhere in this thread makes the exact opposite argument.