The conclusion that there is no truly hierarchical measure of status, because there are fractally distributed groups for which you could have status within, is wrong on it's face.

As an example, nearly everyone on the planet knows who the US President and Pope are and recognize them as the highest status (even if you don't like them - don't ask me why this is). If one of those people walked into any of those smaller groups, they would inherit the highest status immediately, without having to do any of the in-group activities.