Lead or Follow

People tend to think they’re more important than they really are. For whatever reason, a level of relevance to high status culture is what many seem to be chasing. Personally, I love to make others feel like I’m larger than I really am, just by signaling my connections to higher status people. I try to pull my self up by associating my reputation with that of other people.

It’s generally understood that we are all influenced by those who we are surrounded with. But no one is fooled when you name drop someone of higher status, in hopes that people will associate you with them. It’s a greedy and short sighted algorithm to try and capitalize off the likeness of others instead of building your own.

This is not to say that there isn’t upside in the market economy of social interaction.

I do feel that there is a meaningful spot between clout chasing and total isolationism. It’s up to the individual to find their place in a tribe. We’re all hard wired to belong.

Let’s just say that everyone somehow has a number assigned to them, one through ten. Whether it’s appearance, video game skill level, intelligence, or some other arbitrary metric, everyone gets a visible social prestige rank. If I look in the mirror and see a number seven tattooed on my forehead, I have a decision to make. Do I swallow my pride and follow around tens, in hopes of becoming better, or should I inflate my identity by leading a group of threes and fours? There really is no right or wrong here, it all depends on your conditioned preferences. But whatever you are influenced to decide, will have a great predictive outcome on your happiness.

"People want you to do well, just not better than them"

"Either lead, follow, or get out of the way"