Why do people like to rank things

Senior face -- Net red face 、 Surprised silent wind -- American idyllic court style 、 Advanced happiness -- Low level happiness , Limited Edition -- Rotten street and so on , These are closely related to the comparison and ranking of high and low levels , Constantly rushing into our vision .

For the better 、 Brighter 、 Higher end things are the mainstream orientation of human society . that , Why do people know what is better 、 Which things have higher social value ？ In other words , What makes them make a judgment and sort ？

1 Characteristics and preferences

people , Or say , All kinds of things have their own preferences . Everything has its own characteristics , That characteristic determines that he has his own preferences .

• for example ：

Black opaque material because it is black 、 Does not reflect any bright colors 、 Opaque , So they “ be good at ” Absorb light and heat . White opaque substances because they are white 、 Reflecting light of all colors 、 Opaque , So they “ be good at ” Reflect light and heat . This leads to hot wearing black in summer , It's cooler to wear white .

Those low latitude desert countries close to the equator （ Such as countries in the Middle East ） A large part of traditional costumes are pure white , Because the climate there is dry and hot , Wearing white robes will help reflect some of the heat , And at the same time “ a ride ”. In this way , White clothes are better than black clothes “ good ”.

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Through this example , It can be concluded that people 、 things 、 The characteristics of things and their significance to others 、 things 、 Preferences for things , Caused a lot of subjective ranking ; So good -- bad 、 practical -- If it is not practical, there will be a distinction .

2 Scarcity

Scarcity leads to the distinction between high and low .

At the beginning of mankind , There should be no strict distinction between high and low . Most of them are after the materials are enriched , After a little wider experience , People will do it according to the scarcity of materials “ Compare ”, Then slowly appear “ High and low ”.

The tribal life of early human beings limited people's exploration of unfamiliar places , those , Even those who are strong “ Hunters ” We can go further 、 faster 、 Catch more prey 、 Understand the terrain farther away / The weather / Vegetation / Prey species .

Because they are strong , So among the many men in the tribe, they have more say -- All the meat and fur sources depend on them , Not those “ Old, weak, sick and disabled ”; Female animals （ Including humans ） In primitive genes , They tend to combine with stronger males to produce offspring -- This contributes to the survival rate of offspring and some potential abilities .

therefore , The unusual prey caught by strong people far away from home are regarded as “ Rare things ”. And some can be near the tribe “ At any time ” Some small prey caught are regarded as “ ordinary ” Even “ Inferior ” 了 . in the course of time , As the tribe grows larger and larger , The hierarchy in the tribe is becoming more and more complex , People who own and have the ability to catch rare things have more and more power . This is related to the materials owned by the people at the bottom of the tribe 、 Ability 、 There is a big difference in power . Because of scarcity , People compare it “ High and low ”.

3 Social hierarchy

Empathy , With the development of human beings , This is a high or low “ Bad ” It's getting bigger and bigger . So that later, some people completely escaped from the survival crisis , Live a life without worrying about basic survival problems . At this time, they began to pursue some problems that they had no time to take into account in the face of survival problems .

Refer to Maslow's demand theory , The pyramid perfectly summarizes this phenomenon . The closer you get to the top of the pyramid , The more materials and money you need , conversely , The closer to the bottom of the tower , The less materials and money you need .

This creates a phenomenon ： People at different levels cannot pursue and enjoy people at other levels “ empathy ” Can't even “ understand ”. And since ancient times , human society （ Or social creatures ） Most people in power have more . The basic masses are controlled by those on the spire , They yearn for that “ extravagant ” Things that are , I think as long as I can enjoy those materials , It seems that they can become part of the spire .（ This is also the fundamental reason why the nouveau riche are not popular with the people at the top and bottom of the tower .）

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Go to the ball 、 Enjoy a luxurious dinner 、 Listen to the symphony , wait , Are some of the upper class “ sign ”. They can enjoy and get satisfaction from those activities . Ordinary people can get from the bonfire party 、 Dinner of relatives and friends 、 Enjoy and be satisfied in activities such as folk relay .

For those involved , They all enjoyed and were satisfied , The degree is great for themselves . But from the third perspective , They got 、 Enjoy is different , Because the bonfire party 、 Dinner of relatives and friends 、 The folk song relay needs far less material and financial support than the dance 、 Enjoy a luxurious dinner 、 Listen to the symphony . Contrast , There is “ High and low ” 了 .

4 summary

Something more readily available can be called more “ Ordinary ” more “ low-level ” some , Some things that are more difficult and difficult to get can be called more “ rare ” even to the extent that “ senior ” some .

Back to the beginning , Why are humans keen to rank things ：

1. In many cases, it is convenient to obtain information . Open shelf cargo 、 Counter goods ; One dollar shop 、 Ten yuan shop 、 Department Store 、 Luxury shopping malls .
2. It is conducive to the hierarchical distribution and positioning under different systems . Ordinary employees 、 Excellent employees 、 super / Special staff .
3. Seek social recognition in specific situations . Upstart 、 spray 、 A marketing number with ulterior motives .

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