Sublime

weal as it is about an individual’s endorphins.

economist Anthony Heath’s assertion: “The fact that there is a social norm does not . . . automatically entail that it will be obeyed. Everyone has his price: the benefits of conformity must be compared with the benefits to be obtained elsewhere, and there is bound to be some level of alternative benefits that will successfully tempt the individual

But it can also go the other way. What economics has missed is that adding an incentive—a fine or a bonus—may be subtracting something else, the individual’s sense of responsibility, or obligation, or intrinsic pleasure.

Michael Norton, a professor of management at Harvard Business School and a coauthor of the book Happy Money,

estimated that there was an upper limit at around 2,000 on the number of faces we could put names to.

When we do, we assume the politicians are clients in a patron–client relationship, and we assume their obligations will cloud their impartial judgment.

The environment typically exhibits a range of regularities or niches, that can be exploited by different action sequences or strategies.

If you are a low-status ten, by contrast, male or female, you have nowhere to live (or nowhere good). Your food is terrible, when you’re not going hungry. You’re in poor physical and mental condition. You’re of minimal romantic interest to anyone, unless they are as desperate as you. You are more likely to fall ill, age rapidly, and die young, with

Blending in with a new all-powerful elite can be both a matter of survival and a passport to economic success.