Comment by Phil Hood on Making yourself small · 2018-04-12T21:26:05.354Z · LW · GW

Great model. I can think of lots of bigs acting small. Have you ever heard it said of a celebrity, "In person he (or she) was just like an ordinary person?" In short, the celebrity made himself small. Research has demonstrated that an increase in power and wealth leads to a decrease in empathy and a willingness to discount the needs of others. Using your formulation, power increases the likelihood that one will demand attention, or feel entitled to more space. The ability to act smaller when needed could be very important to people with power and status. I think we see this in good politicians, too.