A tall tree catches the wind. This applies in any field. If one has status -- through expertise, influence, reputation, and so on -- it may not just be one or two to try to take one out, but a crowd. While people of little status may experience the same, this may only be fleeting for them -- in my experience. In other words, people take time with you if they regard you as having status. It is, I think, a very backward form of respect. OBSERVATION: Perhaps the clearest cut example I have is in the field of electronics, where I have received many awards. I designed a radical new metal detector. I built and tested it, then a world class publisher built and tested it, then several experts peer reviewed it, and it was published. Then came the wind in the tree (one still finds it somewhere on the Internet). The design was rubbished over and over. It worked -- and it worked particularly well.
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