이투스 리딩마스터 실전독해 7회 7번 분석노트

07 TEXT

The rebellious youth who turns into an authoritarian adult is a commonly observed paradox. I recall being surprised at first to hear Charlotte Linde’s observation that policemen whose conversations she had studied talked frequently about what “bad boys” they had been, trading stories about their youthful escapades and how cleverly they had broken the law in their wild days. This seeming puzzle was not solved until I came to understand the view of the world as a hierarchical social order. “Born rebels” who defy authority are not oblivious of it, but oversensitive to it. Defying authority is a way of asserting themselves and refusing to accept subordinate positions. When they are old enough, or established enough, to take the dominant position, reinforcing authority becomes the way to assert themselves, since the hierarchy is now operating to their advantage.