The desire to stand above others may reveal how impossible it feels to stand alone.
Field Notes
From the outside, domination can resemble strength: the room obeys, the crowd applauds, and one person appears to hold more power than everyone around him.
But this kind of power must be continually supplied from outside. It needs witnesses, submission, admiration, or fear in order to survive. What looks like enormous self-belief may actually be an inability to feel substantial without other people beneath it.