Soap Box

There is pretty strong evidence that being low on the social hierarchyis bad for your health, but what does this really mean? What is thesocial hierarchy for humans, and what kinds of health effects?
The health effects are easier to answer, I think, because I just heardabout the data – pretty much everything to do with stress: heartdisease, high cholesterol, obesity, nervous disorders, and, as itturns out, violence, impulsivity, recklessness, etc.
Social hierarchy exists pretty clearly for rats, dogs, birds, monkeys,apes, and humans, but what makes for a high status person? I've saidsome of this already, but I'll repeat myself, for lack of editingskills or conscientiousness…Intelligence and education, do – people with phDs live longer (4years), healthier lives than average.Income and wealth – adjusting mortality for income is more significantthan adjusting mortality for all cancers.Relative Income/wealth – Japanese and French people smoke, drink, andeat high fats foods, but have remarkably low rates of heart diseaseand cancer. They also have the lowest gaps between the rich and thepoor.Control over one's environment – city bus drivers have strictschedules and very little control, and they are rife with illnessesand absenteeism (sick days).
A lot of self-help books focus on leadership, making money, takingcontrol of your life, etc. These things make us feel good. Why?Because we live in a socially competitive, hierarchical society – wefeel better when we our sense of social status rises, eg when we feelwe have potential, when we perform well, or when people we like orrespect like us.Neurolinguistic programming – fake it until you are what you are faking.Positive thinking – your words determine who you are and how youperceive yourself and your situation.Self esteem - confidence and satisfaction in oneself – (this is theheaven, the nirvana, the holy-holy of my spin on secularhumanitarianism. )
Self-esteem does not have much to do with actual competence. It's allperceived and relative. This may be morally wrong, but isstructurally correct. So, if you can grow your self-image into afunctional delusion of greatness, you will be happy.
So, how do you fake it until you make it? How do you act until youare? Steal from the actors –Using the Method, an actor recalls emotions or reactions from his orher own life and uses them to identify with the character beingportrayed.Using Stanislavski's 'system', the actor analyzes deeply themotivations and emotions of the character in order to personify him orher with psychological realism and emotional authenticity.
Who is your audience? Yourself, the god/super-ego within you, peoplearound you? Who do you get the best feedback from – who matters themost in terms of feeling good about them feeling good about you?I am a celebrity – a delusional one with imaginary fans, but rockstar, a cultural icon, royalty, sick, schizophrenic, deranged, happilystuffed shirted, showing off for no body and everybody.
I'm on a soap box. It's time to get off.