Hello everyone, Jim here. We're taking a brief two-week break from new episodes to spotlight a couple of golden oldies from the archive. Years later, these remain some of my favorite conversations. We’ll be back soon with fresh episodes, but in the meantime, here's my September 2022 chat with the always interesting Will Storr.

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Will Storr is an award winning journalist and author. His book ‘The Status Game’ transforms our understanding of human nature by demonstrating how our unconscious desire for status ultimately drives our behaviour.

Important Links:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/wstorr?s=21&t=ZdtIqP9eE3_a5qZocDjEXQ
Website: https://willstorr.com
The Science of Storytelling: https://www.thescienceofstorytelling.com

Show Notes:

Will’s origin story
The strange case of David Irving
The fundamental nature of status games
The Stanford prison experiment and dominance games
The status games played by cults
Luxury beliefs
Why we are all moral hypocrites
The importance of being funny
Social status and socioeconomic status
Human OS and the education system
How status seeking leads to the “very best of human nature”
The murderous nature of reputation destruction
The post WW1 humiliation of Germany
Loaded magazine
Finding the true reason behind seemingly crazy beliefs
The value of religion
Trading status
Spreading humility
Why we could be wrong about our closest beliefs

Books Mentioned:

The Unpersuadables: Adventures with the Enemies of Science; by Will Storr
The Lucifer Principle: A Scientific Expedition into the Forces of History; by Howard Bloom
The Genius of the Beast: A Radical Re-Vision of Capitalism; by Howard Bloom
The WEIRDest People in the World: How the West Became Psychologically Peculiar and Particularly Prosperous; by Joseph Henrich
The Science of Storytelling; by Will Storr
Slaughterhouse-Five; by Kurt Vonnegut
Selfie: How We Became so Self-Obsessed and What It’s Doing to Us; by Will Storr
The Status Game: On Social Position and How We Use It; by Will Storr

Will Storr—The Status Game (Infinite Loops CLASSICS)

Infinite Loops