Humans tend to try to make others "smaller".
Narcissists do this to a severe degree.
Most people want most OTHER people to be either on the same "status level" as themselves, or "lower status" than themselves.
The exception to this is when they've declared an individual, in their minds, as "higher status".
Using school as a metaphor, everyone is either like another kid in a classroom, a fellow classmate with similar social rank, OR they're elected to be higher status than the majority of the group like a "teacher", or a "coach", or a "principal".
(Humans in general do this, not all individual humans).
Some may remember that a lot of kids seemed extremely interested in the hierarchy of the faculty: who gets to tell who what to do, who has to follow who's "orders", and who gets to "discipline" who.
They also seemed extremely interested in making sure that other classmates didn't GET or HAVE more of anything than they did: more stuff, nicer clothes, more privileges, more recognition for anything, or more credit for anything (even when they clearly deserved it).
One thing was for certain in most schools: if a fellow classmate got up in front of the class and started TEACHING the other kids in the absence of the Teacher, they would LAMBASTE that student.
It wouldn't matter if the kid was a bona fide EXPERT in the subject, and was trying to help the other kids with a subject they were struggling with and were about to take an exam on.
Those kids would rather FAIL THE EXAM then recognize their fellow classmate as some kind of "Teacher".
Now, many of those kids would have no problem CHEATING off of that kid's test, nor would they have a problem with that kid giving them a cheat sheet to use during the exam. They probably wouldn't even have a problem with that kid helping them study at home.
The reason they couldn't STAND for that kid to get up in front of the class and "teach" the subject is because they are in HIERARCHY, not in rational THOUGHT, or "consciousness". They will SACRIFICE the chance to learn the subject before they FAIL the test in order to keep that kid "in his place". Which is in their imaginations.
Now, if one of the kids who regularly acted like a thug-bully, OR was a school sports "star" got up and "taught" the class in the absence of the teacher, most of the kids would ALLOW IT, because they've already accepted/recognized this kid as some kind of "authority" among them.
The reason for this is the way the kid gets treated by ADULTS.
(That's why they don't just all get together and hold the bully kid down every time he/she starts treating someone like crap, the adults have given "signals" that this kid is ALLOWED to behave this way, and therefore has been given social ranking OVER the other kids.)
Hierarchy creation in humans usually obliterates rational thought, intelligent decision making, and genuine learning. And humans constantly try to create hierarchies.
There is a very big difference between positional hierarchy for decision making and action purposes, and SOCIAL hierarchy. BOTH are often found at the same time in business and government.
The first is real, and OBJECTIVE (ideally), and the second is made-up, and completely SUBJECTIVE.
A quick example: in a REAL hierarchy situation, a police officer is a civilian when she or he is at a family reunion; her/his relatives behave respectfully, to EVERYONE, and so does the officer.
~In a SOCIAL hierarchy, the police officer at the family reunion behaves like he/she is in charge of everyone, like he/she has innate authority over all the relatives, and many of the relatives ALLOW IT, even respond to it, treating him/her with favoritism and "extra respect".
HOWEVER, when the officer's cousin shows up who is TALLER, and ALSO a police officer, everyone defers to the taller cousin.
Now, both of the officers behave as if they have innate authority over their relatives, but the taller one gets to be the "LEADER".
Both Narcissists and non-narcissists will create and perpetuate Hierarchies, little ones and huge ones, but Narcissists REALLY do it.
Human beings tend to try to create "hierarchies" in whatever group they're in, small or large. Someone is going to get elected "leader", and others are going to try to be "assistants" to the "leader", then there's going to be the majority of people in the "middle", and then there's going to be people who others try to knock down to be "low man on the totem pole", everyone's footstool, sidekick, mascot, servant, waterboy, whipping boy, kid-sister or brother, etc. THEN, even lower than that (as decided by those who feel entitled to decide) will be those who are treated like "outcasts" from the group.
OUTCASTS are important to any group with a hierarchy, because there can't be an IN-CROWD unless there's an OUT-CROWD.
Outcasts are created in order to make the group seem REAL, and make the many insecure members of a group feel like they're really accepted.
Narcissists EXPLOIT the tendency for humans to create and follow hierarchies.
Narcissists do this to a severe degree.
Most people want most OTHER people to be either on the same "status level" as themselves, or "lower status" than themselves.
The exception to this is when they've declared an individual, in their minds, as "higher status".
Using school as a metaphor, everyone is either like another kid in a classroom, a fellow classmate with similar social rank, OR they're elected to be higher status than the majority of the group like a "teacher", or a "coach", or a "principal".
(Humans in general do this, not all individual humans).
Some may remember that a lot of kids seemed extremely interested in the hierarchy of the faculty: who gets to tell who what to do, who has to follow who's "orders", and who gets to "discipline" who.
They also seemed extremely interested in making sure that other classmates didn't GET or HAVE more of anything than they did: more stuff, nicer clothes, more privileges, more recognition for anything, or more credit for anything (even when they clearly deserved it).
One thing was for certain in most schools: if a fellow classmate got up in front of the class and started TEACHING the other kids in the absence of the Teacher, they would LAMBASTE that student.
It wouldn't matter if the kid was a bona fide EXPERT in the subject, and was trying to help the other kids with a subject they were struggling with and were about to take an exam on.
Those kids would rather FAIL THE EXAM then recognize their fellow classmate as some kind of "Teacher".
Now, many of those kids would have no problem CHEATING off of that kid's test, nor would they have a problem with that kid giving them a cheat sheet to use during the exam. They probably wouldn't even have a problem with that kid helping them study at home.
The reason they couldn't STAND for that kid to get up in front of the class and "teach" the subject is because they are in HIERARCHY, not in rational THOUGHT, or "consciousness". They will SACRIFICE the chance to learn the subject before they FAIL the test in order to keep that kid "in his place". Which is in their imaginations.
Now, if one of the kids who regularly acted like a thug-bully, OR was a school sports "star" got up and "taught" the class in the absence of the teacher, most of the kids would ALLOW IT, because they've already accepted/recognized this kid as some kind of "authority" among them.
The reason for this is the way the kid gets treated by ADULTS.
(That's why they don't just all get together and hold the bully kid down every time he/she starts treating someone like crap, the adults have given "signals" that this kid is ALLOWED to behave this way, and therefore has been given social ranking OVER the other kids.)
Hierarchy creation in humans usually obliterates rational thought, intelligent decision making, and genuine learning. And humans constantly try to create hierarchies.
There is a very big difference between positional hierarchy for decision making and action purposes, and SOCIAL hierarchy. BOTH are often found at the same time in business and government.
The first is real, and OBJECTIVE (ideally), and the second is made-up, and completely SUBJECTIVE.
A quick example: in a REAL hierarchy situation, a police officer is a civilian when she or he is at a family reunion; her/his relatives behave respectfully, to EVERYONE, and so does the officer.
~In a SOCIAL hierarchy, the police officer at the family reunion behaves like he/she is in charge of everyone, like he/she has innate authority over all the relatives, and many of the relatives ALLOW IT, even respond to it, treating him/her with favoritism and "extra respect".
HOWEVER, when the officer's cousin shows up who is TALLER, and ALSO a police officer, everyone defers to the taller cousin.
Now, both of the officers behave as if they have innate authority over their relatives, but the taller one gets to be the "LEADER".
Both Narcissists and non-narcissists will create and perpetuate Hierarchies, little ones and huge ones, but Narcissists REALLY do it.
Human beings tend to try to create "hierarchies" in whatever group they're in, small or large. Someone is going to get elected "leader", and others are going to try to be "assistants" to the "leader", then there's going to be the majority of people in the "middle", and then there's going to be people who others try to knock down to be "low man on the totem pole", everyone's footstool, sidekick, mascot, servant, waterboy, whipping boy, kid-sister or brother, etc. THEN, even lower than that (as decided by those who feel entitled to decide) will be those who are treated like "outcasts" from the group.
OUTCASTS are important to any group with a hierarchy, because there can't be an IN-CROWD unless there's an OUT-CROWD.
Outcasts are created in order to make the group seem REAL, and make the many insecure members of a group feel like they're really accepted.
Narcissists EXPLOIT the tendency for humans to create and follow hierarchies.
