We describe the departure from the model as an error. We might equally describe the model as a hopeful guess about us. Institutions know all this, of course, which is why the queue is so rarely left to chance. The mind that evolved for small groups and immediate dangers is now asked to manage a pension. It does its best. There is a version of this essay that ends with a policy prescription. This is not that version; the mechanism is interesting enough on its own.
What the evidence shows
The measure that matters is not what people say about status but what they do when nobody is scoring. The honest conclusion is uncomfortable for reformers: people are not waiting to be corrected. The usual story is that we are careless calculators. The better story is that we are careful about the wrong things. Nobody sets out to be governed by the queue, yet it shapes an astonishing share of the ordinary day.
