Dr. Alok Kanojia

And so it's like, oh, we want our first million.

And if you're not careful the moment that you get your first million, like you want a second million.

And then you want a third million.

And then it's even scarier, right?

So like, oh, I got 3 million subscribers.

That's awesome.

But then you know what's really terrifying, Andrew?

Is a guy who started after me is getting followers faster than I'm getting them.

Right.

And so the ego is never going to be satisfied.

The ego by its nature is comparative.

And even if you're number one, people think the most anxious people I've ever worked with, not actually true, but among them, is people who get to the top.

and you think that you're done, you're not done.

Then you're looking behind you at all of the people who are younger, harder working, have the benefit of AI tools, have the benefit of the path that you have carved, who are catching up on you and will overtake you soon enough.

So one good example of why we compare is the more you are judged, the more your ego grows and the more you will compare.

Right.

So this is almost like we're taught how to when people judge us, we judge ourselves and we get judged based on ranking.

And so, you know, this is what we see on the Internet as social media.

As we start to get judged more and more and more, we become more and more narcissistic.

This is the narcissistic defense that tries to protect us from judgment.