> So, because it’s a base human urge, we shouldn’t ever try to improve on it or do better? Sounds very defeatist to me. Improve and do better for whom? Those o

> So, because it’s a base human urge, we shouldn’t ever try to improve on it or do better? Sounds very defeatist to me. Improve and do better for whom? Those of us with adequate social acumen can deal with human nature just fine. It is observably true though that low status persons often fantasize about somehow overturn the social order such that when it all shakes out they come out on top. It’s so common that it’s a well-known and frankly overworked trope. The world has seen plenty of revolutions and other social disruptions and every single time those with a good grasp of human nature come out on top. You can fight reality if you wish, but you can never beat it. > Plenty of workplaces try a lot harder: setting specific goals to achieve in order to get promotions rather than relying on interpersonal relationships, for example. And it’s telling how reliably chumps fall for that story. The process is observably no more than a fig leaf covering office politics except perhaps at the levels where nobody with influence gives a fig.