I suspect that the real skill is knowing when the mating^H^H^H^H^H^H signaling dance is worth the effort. Among your fellow geniuses at the IAS? That’s a clear ‘yes’ even if emulating monkey-level neural circuitry does require some effort. In politically-relevant settings as mentioned in the OP? That’s another ‘yes’. However there are many, many environments where being the top monkey gives you nothing except more mediocrity!
many environments where being the top monkey gives you nothing except more mediocrity
First, what’s the alternative? Getting more mediocrity compared to getting nothing doesn’t sound too horrible.
Second, your biological hardwiring will automatically provide some hedons just for being the top monkey, even if your minions aren’t all that impressive.
I suspect that the real skill is knowing when the mating^H^H^H^H^H^H signaling dance is worth the effort. Among your fellow geniuses at the IAS? That’s a clear ‘yes’ even if emulating monkey-level neural circuitry does require some effort. In politically-relevant settings as mentioned in the OP? That’s another ‘yes’. However there are many, many environments where being the top monkey gives you nothing except more mediocrity!
First, what’s the alternative? Getting more mediocrity compared to getting nothing doesn’t sound too horrible.
Second, your biological hardwiring will automatically provide some hedons just for being the top monkey, even if your minions aren’t all that impressive.