site banner

Small-Scale Question Sunday for May 7, 2023

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

2
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

Looking for reading recommendations on social status and group formation.

Some claims along the lines of what I'm looking for (arguments or evidence for or against these claims):

  1. Social status basically is a person's value to a group.

  2. Different groups can value someone differently, so there's not necessarily a notion of 'true' or global social status.

  3. It's forbidden (or at least, low-status) to talk about status explicitly.

  4. People can prove their high status by being magnanimous towards lowly people. Someone of lower status faces more of a threat from the next rung down so they can't safely praise lowly people.

  5. People who are more productive (in ways the group cares about) have higher status.

  6. People whose roles relate to the sacred (doctors for example, who save lives, which are sacred) have higher status.

  7. The sacred is a big part of what forms group identity, differentiates in-group vs. out-group members, and helps groups persist over time.

I'm particularly looking for books or essays that frame these things in terms of game theory or economics. "Sociology for systematizers" if you will.