Overview

Why does a colleague's promotion disturb us more than our own stalled career? Why do capuchin monkeys reject perfectly good food after watching another monkey receive something better? Why might artificial intelligence systems develop competitive behaviors they were never programmed to have? The Anatomy of Envy presents a unified theory of one of the most pervasive yet least understood phenomena in psychology: the disturbance that arises from perceiving oneself as disadvantaged relative to others. Drawing on the Comparative Asymmetry Principle, Boris Kriger identifies the precise structural conditions under which this phenomenon emerges-conditions met not only by humans but by other primates, social animals, and potentially artificial agents. This is not a self-help book. It is an intellectual exploration of a mechanism that shapes much of social life while operating largely below conscious awareness. From the neural substrates of social pain to the algorithmic amplification of comparison on digital platforms, from ancient religious prohibitions to modern multi-agent AI systems, the book traces the phenomenon across disciplines and domains, revealing a common structure beneath diverse manifestations. Readers will discover why comparison density has increased by orders of magnitude in the digital age, how goals can drift upward in response to others' achievements until they become permanently unattainable, why some individuals are devastated by social comparison while others are relatively immune, and what resolution strategies are available to agents caught in comparative distress. Written for educated general readers who take pleasure in understanding complex phenomena, The Anatomy of Envy offers not advice but insight-the satisfaction of comprehending a mechanism that touches nearly every aspect of human existence. Keywords envy, social comparison, behavioral psychology, evolutionary psychology, artificial intelligence, self-evaluation, status anxiety

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