That’s mechanical stuff. And even related to war at times. That’s why money works. Proof of work. You’re talking about why Bitcoin as a network is successful, which is very separate from individual social signaling.

Individuals signal status to each other socially on numerous metrics, based on gender and skillset and other priorities.

But a common trend is that focusing on the short term stuff, like beauty, ego, possessions, and so forth is very ephemeral. It feels good in the moment but it doesn’t contribute much long-term. Much of that is instinctively geared toward mate acquisition but many people get locked into it too much. We can apply our self awareness to escape that loop.

In contrast, focusing on things like signaling your integrity to others through actions, your honesty, your generosity, your competence at your craft, your wisdom and helpfulness from experience- that’s what contributes a lot of deep satisfaction long-term.

That’s the point of the post. 

 I think you're both viewing "hierarchy" in very different lights. with very different connotation. 

 They can also signal value based on their willingness to compete over the ledger.  It's an important point to make because people that don't control their own hashpower are entering into a trust-based system. 

Take El Salvador as an example, they don't hash at a sovereign level just to monetize their power. An equally important reason they do so is to ensure permissionless access to the network.

I speculate that a "public" mining pool consisting mostly of regular everyday people is going to emerge as a serious competitor in the industry over the next 10 years.  People have a lot more power than they currently realize.. and to ensure censorship resistance they must engage in the power competition. 

 I guess the point I'm making is.. not all forms of dominance hierarchy are shallow... abstract hierarchies are often times shallow... but physical-power-based dominance hierarchies like those seen in nature.. and especially Bitcoin.. are highly virtuous and worth competing in to establish your place among them. 

 that power isn't to compete "over the ledger", but kust for the next block so they can get paid. its a business. it's literally no different than starting a company that makes shoes or builds houses or teaches people in a school. that is simply a business. the difference is that when somebody becomes part of the Bitcoin economy, it doesn't matter how big and powerful any of the miners are, that oerson still has the same value in the Bitcoin economy. big or small miners don't change that value.  

 El Savador doesn't hash only to monetize their power, they recognize that engaging in hashing is the only way to ensure permissionless access to the network.  El Salvador guarantees their transactions cannot be censored in this way.  So many Bitcoiners have lost sight of this fact, effectively trusting other people not to censor them.  The people will wake up eventually and become one of the most dominant hash powers on the planet specifically to ensure their transactions aren't censored. 

 definitely agree with the idea of not wanting their transactions censored, but that is the case whether El Salvador mines or not. the only befit to them mining is if they have access to cheap power that can provide them more Bitcoin than if they were to buy it directly (accounting for other intermediaries, convince/complexity, etc.). in that aspect, it's just like business. or at the least, very analogous.  

 unless you control your own hash power, you are engaging in a trust-based system where you trust miners to include your transactions in the block, period.

El Salvador.. as the first country deeming it legal tender must mine their own blocks to guarantee they aren't censored for any reason.  This is not disputable.