Introductions, as common as they are, are mostly a waste of time. Instead of introducing, let's explain a difficult subject, and connect the dots to figure out what this blog is all about. Ask yourself this question: have you ever been in a social situation where there was not an explicit or implicit hierarchy? At work you have titles, at home you have seniority, and with your friends you have an alpha, beta, etc. Not only does a situation have a hierarchy, but the same two people can have two different rankings, depending on the situation. Tim and Huang are on the football team and the math team at school. On the field, Huang is the first string quarter back and the team captain, so Tim defers to him there. On the math team, however, Tim is the captain and tutors many of his teammates, including Huang, to compete for scholarships at math competitions. So, Tim and Huang's behavior to one another changes depending on the environment, due in large part to a difference in ra...