In this episode we welcome back author Will Storr whose new book, The Status Game, feels like required reading for anyone confused, curious, or worried about how politics, cults, conspiracy theories communities, social media, religious fundamentalism, polarization, and extremism are affecting us - everywhere, on and offline, across cultures, and across the world.
What is The Status Game? It’s our primate propensity to perpetually pursue points that will provide a higher level of regard among the people who can (if we provoked such a response) take those points away. And deeper still, it’s the propensity to, once we find a group of people who regularly give us those points, care about what they think more than just about anything else.
In the interview, we discuss our inescapable obsession with reputation and why we are deeply motivated to avoid losing this game through the fear of shame, ostracism, embarrassment, and humiliation while also deeply motivated to win this game by earning what will provide pride, fame, adoration, respect, and status.
207 - A Slight Change of Plans - Maya Shankar
206 - Narcissism
205 - Unfollow - Megan Phelps-Roper
204 - On Being Certain - Robert Burton
203 - Transcend - Scott Barry Kaufman
202 - Desirability Bias (rebroadcast)
201 - Good Dog - Kate Leaver
200 - Socks and Crocs (rebroadcast)
199 - Math Without Numbers - Milo Beckman
198 - Reflection and Insurrection
197 - Conspiratorial Thinking
196 - Art (rebroadcast)
195 - Clearer Thinking - Spencer Greenberg
194 - Because Internet - Gretchen McCulloch
193 - Gossip
192 - The Dunning-Kruger Effect (rebroadcast)
191 - Livewired - David Eagleman
190 - Learned Helplessness (rebroadcast)
189 - The Vaccine
188 - The Happiness Lab - Laurie Santos (rebroadcast)
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