hierarchy bad for your health

Anarchists Rejoice: Hierarchy is Bad for Your Health

In this video, Robert Sapolsky, discusses his research of hierarchy in baboons troops. Sapolsky, a neuroendocrinologist, found that baboons with lower social ranks had higher levels of stress hormones which can cause problems with blood pressure, the immune and reproductive systems, and brain chemistry resembling that of the clinically depressed.


But in an unexpected development, many of the alpha males in the troop Sapolsky studied died after coming into contact with tuberculosis-tainted meat. What was left of the troop was the more socially-attuned baboons who, rather than torturing their comrades, preferred to groom them and, you know, chill. Wandering baboons that joined the troops from elsewhere, who generally fall into the “raging dick” category, were eventually assimilated and, like their troop-mates, learned to hang with the bros.

As a result, Sapolsky found that the troop’s overall levels of stress hormones, blood pressure, and anxiety decreased.

Watch the video below:


  • JimBob

    Take note about this vital study next time you are grading papers.