3 ms·
This idea that everyone is at the top of a different status ladders appears to be the same basic thesis as the essay "Melancholy of Subculture Society" written
by ctchocula 3y ago
This idea that everyone is at the top of a different status ladders appears to be the same basic thesis as the essay "Melancholy of Subculture Society" written by Gwern [1], which fleshes out the idea further and presents this as an ever-powerful force in the world driven by the Internet. I'm not sure I agree with it fully, but it's an interesting idea. I especially like the way the author wrote this paragraph:
"... Harvard had, in at least one interesting way, the perfect social system: Everyone at the top of his own ladder. The small minority of students passionately interested in drama knew perfectly well that they were the most important people at the university; everyone else was there to provide them with an audience. The small minority passionately interested in politics knew that they were the most important ones; their friends were there to be herded into meetings of the Young Republicans and Young Democrats in order to get them elected to positions in those organizations that were the stepping stones to further political success."
[1] https://gwern.net/subculture https://gwern.net/subculture
- suoduandao3 3y agoThe concept brings to mind Frederic Laloux's thesis of an ecosystemic organizing principle. Essentially, the idea is that corporations get meritocracy but have trouble valuing everyone's humanity, while collectivist orgs value everyone's humanity but have trouble distinguishing competent from incompetent or defining spheres of responsibility. If I squint, his idea of a 'next step' that can recognize the value of everyone's unique humanity while also recognizing relative competence does look like the picture your quote paints.
- AnimalMuppet 3y agoEverybody's trying to find status, belonging, being somebody special - something that boosts their ego, essentially. It reminds me of C. S. Lewis's essay "The Inner Ring" (at https://www.lewissociety.org/innerring/ https://www.lewissociety.org/innerring/ ).