Excerpt from recent readings of When Everyone Knows That Everyone Knows by Steven Pinker,
1. We try to gain status by not caring about status.
2. We rebel against conformity in the same way as everyone else.
3. We show humility to prove we’re better than other people.
4. We don’t care what people think, and we want them to think
this.5. We make anonymous donations to get credit for not caring about
getting credit.6. We bravely defy social norms so that people will praise us.
7. We avoid being manipulative to get people to do what we want
them to do.8. We compete to be less competitive than our rivals.
9. We help those in need, regardless of self-interest, because being
seen as the type of person who helps those in need, regardless of
self-interest, is in our self-interest.10. We make subversive art that only high-status people appreciate.
11. We make fun of ourselves for being uncool to prove we’re cool.
12. We self-righteously defend false beliefs to prove we care more
about the truth than virtue-signaling.13. We help our friends without expecting anything in return,
because we know they would do the same for us.14. We show everyone our true, authentic self—not who society
wants us to be—because that is who society wants us to be.