Living in the human tribe

Hey Google (or Siri), define “pissing contest”… “A contest or rivalry in which the main concern of the parties involved is the conspicuous demonstration of superiority”. I know, that’s pretty vulgar. But the point is that the status games we play in society can be rather vulgar. Often, we’re not even aware of them. Status is part of our social soup. Humans naturally read subtle clues to help us establish our position in the social hierarchy....

There is value in simplicity when it comes to decision making. We’ve all heard the refrain, “keep it simple, stupid”. But we may not have heard of the law of unintended consequences. If we are unaware of the complexity of the system we are operating in or are ignorant of the levers impacting it, our quest for simplicity may cause more harm than good. I recall a story where an American charity organisation wanted to donate blankets to a community in southern Africa....