| Chapter 1: | Instincts |
|
|
This is a limited free preview of this book. Please buy full access.
We therefore come to rank people as better or worse, and we are aware that other people are ranking us. We become status-conscious creatures. We make “invidious comparisons,” which means that we compare people and rank one person better than another. Invidious comparisons cause us to try to emulate those whom others praise, because we seek the status that comes from being ranked “better.”
In many cases emulation is helpful to the group. For example, the instinct of workmanship causes people to appreciate hard work and efficiency. One can rank high in the esteem of the group if one can demonstrate a high degree of efficiency or craftsmanship. This may cause people to emulate the best workers and craftsmen so as to rank high in such invidious comparisons.
Emulation also played an important role in “what may well be the greatest shock to Western demographic history, namely the decline in infectious diseases in the industrialized West after 1870 or so.” [Mokyr, 167]. Once scientists established the importance of cleanliness and soap, they had to convince the rest of the population. The first to be convinced were the high-status educated elite. Their high status made them objects of emulation, so the rest of the population was relatively quick to adopt the higher standards of hygiene. The result was better health for everyone.
But our propensity to emulate is not limited to socially beneficial behaviors. We are also capable of emulating self-regarding behaviors that do not advance the interests of the group, or that actually harm it. For example, many people throughout the world emulate gangsters. In the United States, the gangster subculture is the subject of popular music and movies. Suicide bombers emulate other suicide bombers. Emulation also plays a major role in consumption