Authority

Biological Parallel

Juvenile primates defer to alpha decisions about foraging routes, resting spots, and threat responses—not from submission, but from Bayesian inference. The alpha has survived longer, encountered more threats, and holds superior environmental knowledge. Deference to authority evolved as an information shortcut: experienced individuals carry probabilistic maps of danger and opportunity. Humans inherit this deference, which marketers exploit with white coats, titles, and credentials—authority signals that bypass skepticism.