Just as monkeys and apes compete for dominance and social rank within their particular hierarchies, we humans also compete for dominance and social rank within our own hierarchies of art, science, technology, business, government, fashion, entertainment, and sports. But while the players change, the play remains the same: a stable social hierarchy in which each individual has a particular rank, in which life-or-death battles are infrequent, and in which winners and losers know their status, and stay in their places, but nevertheless remain watchful for opportunities to move up in the
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