The Human Beast

I think that Greg first sent me the link to this article. I don't want to lose it, so I'll put it here rather than on that mouldering pile of papers I call a desk.

The Human Beast by Tom Wolfe
2006 Jefferson Lecture

That a wound to one's status, not to one's body, not to one's bank account, not to one's general fortunes in life, that such a wound to one's status could have such a severe effect upon the psyche of the human beast, is no minor matter. It means that we have come upon a form of anguish that is somehow primal. Even the most trivial and the most unlikely circumstances can be colored by the beast's constant and unrelenting concern for his own status. Which is to stay, his own standing, his own rank, in the eyes of others and in his own eyes.

I read it some time ago. Now I'm going to download the MP3 and listen.