“Authority figures are wiser than I am and should be obeyed.” You’ll know that this frame is influencing your life if you’re constantly focused on the hierarchy of society—whom to listen to and whom to ignore.

You give certain people preference or respect simply because of data points that don’t actually have any real meaning, like age, wealth, or social proof—how much others like them.

The reason this frame is unhelpful should be pretty obvious: those data points are not reliable sources of information about a person’s value.

Someone can easily climb the corporate ladder without being a person of true value.

They might do so through deceptive or manipulative means, while the janitor who’s been working for 30 years might be the most loyal, respectable person you’ve ever met.

I’m not saying this is always the case, but the evidence you’re focusing on doesn’t give you the full picture.

It’s amazing how often people bow down to authority simply because someone is wearing a police uniform or is older than them. And yet, throughout history, we’ve seen how this has been abused.

Look at what happened with the Nazis—that’s an example of people bowing down just because someone wore a uniform—although those people in uniforms were genocidal maniacs.

So clearly, your perception of someone’s authority isn’t an accurate measure of their worth or value.

Kindness, compassion, respectability, responsibility—those are the real markers.

To dive deeper into this topic, check out the original video here: