I want to point out that Sapolsky’s studies of baboons have shown that social rank is not super-highly predictive of stress: **https://youtu.be/PNMLlX7tyQk
**
I used to watch these JBP videos many years ago, along with other manosphere videos, and they polluted my mind.
Basically, the rank is not that causative. It’s the many other qualities associated with rank. And, it turns out, from Sapolsky’s research, that the biggest control on stress/misery for baboons is social support. Once again, the collectivist Confucian culture emerges as victorious in the realm of social morality.
This concern of rank of JBP strongly resembles the leftist complaint that money makes and breaks everything; that poor people have an insanely huge hurdle to overcome to have a basically decent life, etc.
It should be mentioned that JBP is a former socialist.
These leftist sorts of white males, I have noticed, have either helpless mentalities or narcissistic cool-kid mentalities.
Dominant/rich people live well and feel good, but it’s not because of their wealth/dominance. I’d argue that the well-being of the wealthy and dominant is the qualities that are by necessity associated with wealth/dominance. In other words, I’d attribute very low causative power regarding well-being to the wealth and dominance in themselves.
A good movie to point to for explanation is In the Heart of the Sea (film) - Wikipedia
The movie is about whaling, and it is related to the story of In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex, which itself is a true story that inspired Moby Dick. Chris Hemsworth’s character is a genuinely qualified captain who also knows how to work well with people and lead people. His “dominant position“ of captainhood is usurped by George Pollard, who gains the position through connections from his own great, rich family. Hemsworth becomes first mate.
Since George Pollard does not actually know how to lead people and handle the stormy seas, he continually makes mistakes, which send him into a crazed mental state. Hemsworth basically takes over the situation - the lives of the crew depend on him.
———————–———————–———————–———————–———————–———————–———————–
Allow me to interpret. In general, the ability to “get the right answer“ and to “do the right thing“ in tricky, stressful situations allows one to climb the dominance hierarchy. People give you responsibility because they trust you, and they want to take work “off of their own plates.” The hierarchy simply does not allow people to climb if they make mistakes, and in fact, if you make mistakes, your mental health will deteriorate to suicide-levels until you are removed from a position of responsibility.
There are specific skills that allow one to get the right answer and do the right thing. In social situations, “doing the right thing” involves negotiating with people respectfully (don’t be a dick). And there are entire sets of words one cannot say, and tones of voice one cannot use to do this. Leadership requires this.
Learning skills and “getting the right answer“ also requires learning from other people. You must both have humility to ask for help, but also feel shameless about learning from others and admitting what you don’t know. There is a whole set of mentalities that underlie this, and it’s a topic for another post.
———————–———————–———————–———————–———————–———————–———————–
If one does the above things, one can manage almost anything in life well. One can manage one’s marriages and friendships well. One can manage poverty and the climbing of the social hierarchy. One can manage being temporarily forced into a low social position. One can even find a way to make oneself relatively happy while being permanently poor (although one might not like being poor).