241 - The Status Game - Will Storr

You Are Not So Smart

Science, Psychology, Brain, Business, Mental Health, Culture, Neuroscience, Mind, Health

4.6 • 1.8K Ratings

🗓️ 4 September 2022

⏱️ 78 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

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. Live Event at Caveat: https://caveat.nyc/event/how-minds-change-9-20-2022 How Minds Change: www.davidmcraney.com/howmindschangehome Show Notes: www.youarenotsosmart.com Newsletter: https://davidmcraney.substack.com Will Storr’s Website: https://willstorr.com Patreon: http://patreon.com/youarenotsosmart

Transcript

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0:00.0	Want to learn how to have better conversations about difficult topics, maybe even improve
0:04.5	your relationships after getting into argumentative roots.
0:07.9	Want to hang out with me and professional facilitator Misha Gloverman as we take the
0:13.1	stage and then get off the stage so you can take part in an experimental interactive book
0:17.7	launch for how minds change with drinks.
0:21.0	Well, if you want to do all those things in person or live via streaming, click the link
0:26.7	in this show's description to get a ticket now while there are still tickets or head
0:33.4	to caveat's website at caveat.nyc because that's where all this is happening on September
0:38.5	20th, caveat in New York City or on the internet if you choose the streaming option, but if
0:43.9	you do go in person, I really, really hope to see you there.
0:46.2	I'll sign your book, I will clink your glass and we can talk about brains and arguments
0:50.2	or whatever you have on your mind live.
0:53.5	September 20th in New York City and streaming.
0:56.6	Link in the show notes in your podcast player or at you are not so smart.com or at davidmakranny.com
1:02.3	or at caveat.nyc.
1:23.1	Welcome to the You Are Not So Smart Podcast episode 241.
1:35.2	The kind of human behaviours that are associated with humiliation, it's just extraordinary.
1:54.9	Everything from spree killing to oner killing to serial murder to terrorism whether it's
2:00.7	that unabomber or Islamic terrorism, all the way up to genocide, humiliation is indicated
2:05.3	in all of those behaviours and that was the moment that convinced me when I started doing
2:09.2	all this reading about humiliation in one research of course humiliation and nuclear
2:12.9	bomb of the emotions.
	...

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