Why it is not always worth imitating successful people

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

While this strategy has helped us evolve, sometimes it can do more harm than good.

Many animals have a hierarchy of power: the strong dominate the weaker. This is also common among people, but we have another separate hierarchy - prestige. It is sustained through respect, not strength. Anthropologists who study the behavior of people in different cultures have noticed that we imitate those who occupy a higher place in this hierarchy, that is, they have prestige.

Now they are celebrities, creative people, scientists, successful entrepreneurs. Moreover, we often copy some habits without thinking about why they are better than our previous ones - just because we noticed them in a successful person.

Harvard anthropologist Joseph Henrich argues that this simple strategy of mimicking prestigious individuals or groups was one of the main mechanisms underlying culture. Perhaps it was thanks to her that people surpassed their monkey ancestors.

This mechanism is similar to natural selection. Only here, instead of inheriting genes - copying the actions of successful individuals.

Usually, the success strategy was copied down to the smallest detail. As a result, complex behaviors evolved and spread culturally, even if people did not understand why they were effective.

As a result, a countless number of beneficial behavioral strategies have been built into the culture, which we cannot always explain rationally. We can say that we are like a cat that is able to hunt without realizing how its digestive system works.

However, in some cases, imitation is useless and even dangerous. Successful people often do something costly just to demonstrate their ability to bear the cost. The same is found in animals.

For example, an antelope that jumps high up upon noticing a lurking leopard could spend this energy in flight. But she seems to be saying, "I am so healthy and fast that you shouldn't even try to chase me." In the human world, expensive cars and diamonds are bought to demonstrate superiority. It is clear that by imitating such false signals of success, you yourself will not become successful.

There is no point in copying costly behavior if you cannot afford it.

False signals of success are all around us. Coupled with the habit of imitation, they explain why some broken systems don't change for so long. So, in health care, education, politics, there are glaring mistakes, the solution of which is quite obvious. But the signaling function overpowers the useful, and no change occurs.

For example, educational institutions are not being reformed. The fact is that changes that would make the education process more convenient would make it more difficult for them to issue qualifications.

In theory, ineffective things should be eliminated through competition. An educational institution in which educational processes are better established would, in theory, supplant the rest. But since prestige is important to us, this does not happen.

Don't forget about false signals. By copying actions that cost a successful person nothing, you can hurt yourself.

It is rather difficult to understand where the false signal is, and where the real reason for success is. Here are some examples of when it is clearly not worth imitating others:

• Wasteful attitude to money. You will probably agree that owning a Ferrari car will not make you rich by itself. But for some reason, many are motivated by the strange investments of the rich, who have nowhere to put their money, and try to follow their example.
• Excessive fastidiousness. Some successful people brag that they turn down offers or avoid difficult jobs. However, you should not abandon something just because some successful person is doing it. Remember that he has a completely different life situation. He can afford not to do what, on the contrary, is necessary for a beginner.
• Strange and most likely useless habits. If you are interested in the reasons for a person's success, it does not matter how he eats or what time he gets up in the morning. The rich have the opportunity to experiment with strange trends (and their health), but that doesn't mean they need to be blindly imitated.

Strive to maintain balance. Be skeptical about the habits of successful people before copying them. Still, don't dismiss advice just because you don't know what it is based on. Consider your own situation and your strengths. And then someone else's example will really benefit you, not harm.