Axiomempiricalv1
Humans have a fundamental drive to evaluate their own
Humans have a fundamental drive to evaluate their own opinions and abilities by comparing themselves to similar others when objective benchmarks are unavailable.
Why This Is an Axiom
This is Festinger's social comparison theory (1954) — a foundational claim about human psychology. It explains why peer pressure works and why adults continue to conform. It's empirical, well-documented, and irreducible.