A Lesson in Stoicism

There’s a simple game we all play called the “social hierarchy game”. We constantly compare ourselves to our closest friends or co-workers to make sure we’re doing as well or better than them. We use self-promotion as a tool to climb the social ladder. This makes sense from an evolutionary perspective as our ancestors had to avoid rejection from the group to stay alive. Status was directly connected to survival and access to basic life resources. This ancient habit is deeply embedded in our psyche and manifests in the brands we choose, virtue signalling on social media as well as our eating and reading habits.