Pecking order also matters. As we strive for status, hierarchies emerge.
Norwegian zoologist Thorleif Schjelderup-Ebbe discovered that in the world of
hens there is a linear hierarchy where every hen knows its place. Science writer
Robert Wright says in The Moral Animal: "Throw a bunch of hens together, and,
after a time of turmoil, including much combat, things will settle down.
Disputes ... will now be brief and decisive, as one hen simply pecks the other,
bringing quick deferral."
The pecking order determines who gets the first chance to eat, and which hen
can peck the other hens. Each hen knows who it can dominate, and in turn, who
will dominate it.
-Seeking wisdom from Darwin to Munger
