Every social observer has a trick for measuring the man. Some will look carefully at his investment portfolio, some his society, others his hair or the cut of his jib. I prefer the hypothalamus. For the hypothalamus is probably the single most accurate denominator of social status for a man in the United States today. Show me a man's tie, or his automobile, and sure, I can tell you who he is, who he is trying to be. But give me a few minutes with his hypothalamus and I will tell you who is trying not to be. Character, as even Freud appreciated, crouches in those depths.