25 August

Adult life has the same structure (now) as teenage school life. We’re all looking for status, in a group of some kind. To be recognised, accepted, and admired. Tell somebody their favourite band sucks and watch how much it’s part of their identity, if they ever speak to you again. At 56 I’m bored of this way of operating in the world. But humans always aim for status, they copy each other (peer pressure) to try to get that status. Fitting in is all that makes them feel comfortable. Except it doesn’t, because the ‘in’ changes daily. So they’re continuously anxious. To be fair, this is how humans have always operated. Then it creates catastrophe, like a world war, or a pandemic. And the social status hierarchies get broken. Only then do we set up institutions focused on actually doing the things that society needs doing. But it never lasts, life gets better and we lapse back into social status games. Then more catastrophe. Etc. etc. Scroll your social media feed and you’ll see this process every day, people ‘pitching’ themselves into the collective attention, trying to carve out their status. Or in your workplace. I left CSU when it became wholly and solely this process, on steroids. A once great institution carved up into 5-year CV filler chunks, to further individual careers.