When Everyone’s Too Shrewd to Bully

When everyone is overly shrewd, a kind of balance emerges. In order to avoid being played or simply to protect themselves, people learn to keep their heads down and watch their words and actions, so you rarely see overt bullying.

Humans are wired for conflict. When physical force is off the table, the battle shifts to wit.
This mental sparring means one person sets a trap while another lays a scheme. Everyone spends their time dismantling others' traps and springing their own—traps within traps, schemes within schemes—relentlessly and with great relish.
That's what civilization is. Swap brawls for脑力 battles, and you've got civilization.