Is life about aiming to the highest hierarchical statue and surviving?

Knowing your place in the food chain is what its all about.

Only a few are chosen.

Self-preservation is a behavior that ensures the survival of an organism.[1] It is almost universal among living organisms.[citation needed] Pain and fear are integral parts of this mechanism. Pain motivates the individual to withdraw from damaging situations, to protect a damaged body part while it heals, and to avoid similar experiences in the future.[2] Most pain resolves promptly once the painful stimulus is removed and the body has healed, but sometimes pain persists despite removal of the stimulus and apparent healing of the body; and sometimes pain arises in the absence of any detectable stimulus, damage or disease.[3] Fear causes the organism to seek safety and may cause a release of adrenaline,[4][5] which has the effect of increased strength and heightened senses such as hearing, smell, and sight. Self-preservation may also be interpreted figuratively, in regard to the coping mechanisms one needs to prevent emotional trauma from distorting the mind

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-preservation

A philosopher should think beyond it.

survival instinct - the instinct in humans and animals to do things in a dangerous situation that will prevent them from dying

https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/engli...

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/surviva...

Education is not about being educated? Tell that to your surgeon before your anaesthesia.

Just face the fact that people that get into Harvard are smart. It may require a little humbleness,

And not everyone is ambitious, and trying to reach a high social level. They naturally seem to gravitate or

fit into a certain niche. You don't have to compete with others, unless you are running a race.

My parents told me to do the very best that I could, and if I failed, then......well, I had tried my best.

The only thing to be ashamed of was not giving it your all. God says not to covet thy neighbors wife.

He doesn't want you to spend time being jealous and comparing yourself to other people, and wishing

you had what they had. Just make the most of yourself, and don't worry about how you measure up.

Just know you did your best with whatever gifts God has given you.

"God, please have mercy on your creation (that's you!)".

Hierarchical STATUE? I cannot imagine anyone striving to become a statue.

Fail.

The reason we are here is to find out what our individual gift is. The point is to give it away.

Have you considered that society is constructed in a way that makes you think this way? Or possibly that the highest of the elite make it this way? Sure there is a bit of primitive desire to be at the pinnacle of power, but if you open your heart to love, you don't need the status symbols and the luxuries to see the divinity in everything.

Your mind is clinging to these status symbols and trying to make the tail wag the dog. In other words, telling itself that only the obtaining of these societal status symbols will make you happy. Meanwhile, happiness is free if you can discipline your mind, look inward and reevaluate your values in life.

If you had everything you ever desired, in the end you would probably just be content to reflect on life and ponder the universe. Meanwhile, these things were free along...but we spend our lives chasing these ridiculous symbols of power.

Happiness comes from within. It comes from recognizing the beauty in everything, unconditionally.

The notion of hierarchy is to be differentiated as that of Truth, God, and of relatively true and false, even as Life is distinct from life and death.

In human terms of relative good and evil/bad, life is known to be relatively good and hierarchical insofar as the human patterns e.g. Kohlberg's stages of moral development and Maslow's stages of being-cognition ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Kohlberg's_... and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow's_hierarchy_o... ). Imho, the "being-cognizers" in Maslow's schema cross-correlate with those at the 6th and 7th stages of Kohlberg's schema.

Recent research tends to confirm this cross-correlation: https://medicalxpress.com/news/2017-08-high-moral-...

Related: "The Path of the Higher Self" is helpful re integrating notions of hierarchy and justice; "Man, Master of His Destiny" is helpful re notions of sowing and reaping.