Some Status Games Are Worth Playing

Rob Henderson · 6 Sept 2026

Rob Henderson did not write this page.

Every claim below was made in this piece, quoted word for word and numbered in the order the piece makes them, so you can read it there rather than take our word for it. The sentence above each quote is our reading of the claim, not their wording. Each quote was checked against a stored copy of the page at build time; where the two differ, the quote is the fact.

Our reading
A society cannot remove the desire for status, only change what earns it.

Their wordsWe may not be able to remove the desire for status, but we can change what earns status.
Our reading
People sometimes publicly defend ideas and punish dissenters they privately agree with, in order to protect their own reputation.
Mental modelIncentives

Their wordsThis is why people can defend ideas they do not truly hold, and punish dissenters they may secretly agree with.

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The other pieces are the ones whose claims are worded most like this one's. That measures language, not agreement: they may argue the opposite.