it's not anyone's "fault" for falling into such despair, but I think we could all be part of creating a culture that's protective against it — a better social safety net is part of the answer, but without a visceral hope/optimism accompanying it, it's not sufficient
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I do think people need to see themselves on an upward trajectory toward something meaningful, and I do buy that this is almost certainly rooted to some large degree in evolutionary pressures re: mate selection, which manifests as hierarchy climbing in social animals, but...
...I think this probably very hackable at the level of small groups. I think we made a very bad call in trying to use compulsory education to create maximally universal human cogs. A person with specific interests or a problem they care about automatically has a "small pond"
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In a healthy "small pond," status can accrue in a non-pyramid-schemey sort of way because experience with the field or problem allows you to mentor newcomers and gain it that way, while also creating real-world progress and actually enjoying yourself
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Status will always accrue at different rates, and hierarchies will emerge, but this is broadly okay as long as you are on a generally upward trajectory as a result of having something to pass on and someone to pass it on to. But we've created very poor institutions for this
End of conversation
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