This short clip explores some early research carried out by Robert Sapolsky professor of biology and neuroscience (amongst lots of other things) at Stanford University.
Whilst investigating hierarchy and its effects within a baboon troupe, a tragic episode that resulted in loss of life for a significant aspect of the troupe provided Sapolsky with some very interesting insight as to how hierarchy within a group affects mental and physical health.
Clearly, we can’t readily apply the findings from a single group, and a group of baboons at that, to human society but perhaps what Sapolsky observed provides a basis by which we might be open to shifting the way hierarchy plays out in society and acknowledge that we can as individuals alter the ways we consider and treat each other - and that making those changes could create a healthier and happier society for us all.
Maybe today we’ll smile at the person who we ordinarily pass everyday on the street or sit across from on the train - you might not get an immediate response, but change can take time and it’s the small changes that lay the foundation for the big shifts.