What makes us like some things and dislike others? What shapes how we behave, and misbehave, in groups? What makes you, you? Bestselling author Will Storr is here with the answer.
For centuries, philosophers and scholars have described human behaviour in terms of sex, power and money. In this livestream event, bestselling author of The Science of Storytelling, Will Storr, radically turns this thinking on its head by arguing that it is our irrepressible craving for status that ultimately defines who we are.
From the era of the hunter-gatherer to today, when we exist as workers in the globalised economy and citizens of online worlds, the need for status has always been wired into us. A wealth of research shows that how much of it we possess dramatically affects not only our happiness and wellbeing but also our physical health – and without sufficient status, we become more ill, and live shorter lives.
It’s an unconscious obsession that drives the best and worst of us: our innovation, arts and civilisation as well as our murders, wars and genocides. But why is status such an all-consuming prize? What happens if it’s taken away from us? And how can our unquenchable thirst for it explain cults, moral panics, conspiracy theories, the rise of social media and the ‘culture wars’ of today?
Join us for a sweeping rethink of human psychology that will change how you see others – and how you see yourself.
Praise for Will Storrs’s The Status Game:
‘I haven’t finished reading The Status Game because I’ve only read it once. There’s so much in this dazzling book I will be revisiting over and over again’ – Daniel Finkelstein, author of Everything in Moderation
‘Bursting with insights into the hierarchy-crazed hellscape of a world shaped by social media, this book confirms Will Storr’s own status as a master storyteller’ – Helen Lewis, author of Difficult Women
‘Thought provoking and enlightening – you’ll be discussing The Status Game everywhere you go’ – Sara Pascoe
‘Will Storr is a master at this art. His book The Status Game could not be more timely and provides a missing piece for understanding where we are, and how to get out of this mess … I can’t recommend it highly enough’ – Greg Lukianoff, co-author with Jonathan Haidt of The Coddling of the American Mind
‘A completely fascinating subject written during a fascinating time period too. Yet again, Storr helps us peek behind the curtain of life, inviting us to have our own mini epiphanies. Once you read this book, you will not stop thinking about it’ – Emma Gannon, author of The Multi-Hyphen Method
