If you are building even one vertical relationship with someone, before you even notice what is happening, you will be treating all your interpersonal relations as vertical. YOUTH: So, I am treating even my relationships with my friends as vertical? PHILOSOPHER: That is correct. Even if you are not treating them in a boss-or-subordinate kind of way, it is as if you are saying, ‘A is above me, and B is below me,’ for example, or ‘I’ll follow A’s advice, but ignore what B says,’ or ‘I don’t mind breaking my promise to C.’
