In “A Ques­tion and an Answer,” the author responds to an intrigu­ing query from an admir­er about the neces­si­ties for social suc­cess. The admir­er’s note stands out among the author’s usu­al stack of morn­ing cor­re­spon­dence, spark­ing his deter­mi­na­tion to address this com­plex ques­tion. He acknowl­edges the per­plex­ing nature of social ascendancy—how cer­tain indi­vid­u­als with seem­ing­ly less­er qual­i­ties tri­umph in soci­ety’s eyes, while oth­ers, osten­si­bly more deserv­ing, lag behind.

The author delves into soci­etal dynam­ics, sug­gest­ing that while soci­ety is capa­ble of appre­ci­at­ing intel­li­gence and tal­ent, social favorites often lack these very qual­i­ties. He posits that the pur­suit of being loved and respect­ed, align­ing well in soci­etal per­spec­tives, ranks as a legit­i­mate ambi­tion dri­ving much of human effort. This pur­suit can stem from pure inten­tions, such as a bread­win­ner aim­ing for a bet­ter life for their fam­i­ly, demon­strat­ing that seek­ing social ele­va­tion isn’t always a self­ish endeav­or.

Fur­ther­more, the author reflects on the ingrained notion of suc­cess with­in soci­ety. From child­hood, indi­vid­u­als are con­di­tioned to aim for suc­cess, engrain­ing a soci­etal stan­dard that equates worth with achieve­ment. This cul­ture of suc­cess, he argues, sets the stage for the high val­ue placed on social stand­ing, sug­gest­ing that social suc­cess becomes a tan­gi­ble, desir­able achieve­ment espe­cial­ly in envi­ron­ments like the Unit­ed States where soci­etal mobil­i­ty appears more acces­si­ble.

Return­ing to the mat­ter of achiev­ing social suc­cess, the author likens the process to Dar­win’s the­o­ry of “nat­ur­al selec­tion.” In soci­etal con­texts, cer­tain indi­vid­u­als are nat­u­ral­ly attuned to thrive in social set­tings, embody­ing char­ac­ter­is­tics that make them social­ly appeal­ing and capa­ble of nav­i­gat­ing the intri­cate dynam­ics of social cir­cles. Suc­cess in social realms, as in nature, results from a mix of nat­ur­al incli­na­tion and relent­less effort—where indi­vid­u­als ded­i­cate them­selves to their social ambi­tions, undis­tract­ed by oth­er pur­suits.

In essence, the chap­ter posits that social suc­cess is not pred­i­cat­ed on intel­li­gence, attrac­tive­ness, or man­ners alone, but rather on a com­bi­na­tion of nat­ur­al pre­dis­po­si­tion towards social life and a ded­i­cat­ed pur­suit of social ambi­tions. The author sug­gests that just as in nature, soci­ety under­goes a form of selec­tion, ele­vat­ing those who are most com­mit­ted to and capa­ble of flour­ish­ing with­in its bounds.