Steven Pinker

I mean, that's the flip side of that.

Sometimes there's a matter of deference because you truly respect the person.

They understand that you truly respect them, and they respect that, you know?

Yeah, there are different flavors of the hierarchical relationship.

It could be dominance, which basically means, you know, I could hurt you if I wanted to.

There can be status, I could help you if I wanted to.

There can be expertise.

You all have a common interest in the decisions being made by someone who knows what they're talking about.

Or even sometimes if everyone's going in the expression, herding cats, even if no one has a particular reason to be the decider,

it's best for everyone if there is a decider.

And that can give you a hierarchical relationship.

But we do use metaphors like saving face out there.

And the elephant in the room is obviously something that everyone can see and that you can't ignore.

Which is why the saying always is, let's acknowledge the elephant in the room.

In other words, like, we all see it.

Now let's talk about, yeah.

So I think the phenomenon of common knowledge and things that generate it, like blunt speech, like eye contact, is universal.

But then what are the relationships that are negotiated with common knowledge or ratified by common knowledge?

That is, what can friends share?

What can a boss demand of an employee?