Status and Culture: How Our Desire for Social Rank Creates Taste, Identity, Art, Fashion, and Constant Change

Page xiv The thing we call culture is always an aggregation of individual human behaviors, and if taste were the mere product of random idiosyncrasies and irrational psychologies, culture would display no patterns, only noise. The fact that preferences in these disparate fields follow a similar rhythm of change suggests there must be universal principles of human behavior at work -- the presence of a "cultural gravity" nudging humans into the same collective behaviors at the same time.

Page xiv As we'll see by the end of this book, fashions explain behavioral change more than we've been willing to admit.

Page xvi Researchers recently concluded that the achievement of high status only makes people want more.

Page xvi This also explains why we dislike social climbers: they remind us there is a ladder to climb. In fact, the modern word "villain" derives from the status - related sin of lowly villein feudal tenants daring to seek a higher social position.

Page xvi in seeking to maximize and stabilize status, individuals end up clustering into patterns of behavior (customs, traditions, fashion, fads, taste) that we understand as culture.

Page xvii Status shapes our aspirations and desires, sets standards for beauty and goodness, frames our identities, creates collective behaviors and morals, encourages the invention of new aesthetic sensibilities, and acts as an automated motor for permanent cultural change. Culture is embodied in the products, behaviors, styles, meanings, values, and sensibilities that make up the human experience -- and it is status that guides their creation, production, and diffusion.

Page xvii Elites could once protect their status symbols behind information barriers and exclusive access to products; now nearly everything is available to nearly everyone.

Page xviii diluted the power of taste to serve as an effective means of social exclusion. the most notable outsider group of the twenty - first century has been the internet trolls rebelling against diversity, equity, and inclusion through revanchist slogans and memes.

Page xx status, is not a "game" some choose to play but an invisible force undergirding the entirety of individual behavior and social organization. We want great art and enduring beauty to derive from intrinsic value -- not from elite associations. Part One: Status and the Individual

Page 5 we care a lot about our ranking, because it determines the benefits we receive; at the same time, we can deduce our position in the hierarchy at any time by comparing our benefits with those of others.

Page 5 status is bestowed by others.

Page 6 Our status position is always contextual, based on how we are treated in a particular time and place.

Page 7 A growing body of empirical research concludes that status is a fundamental human desire. Normal status is nice, but long - term happiness requires a sense of higher status.

Page 8 A study found that 70 percent of research subjects would give up a silent raise in salary for a more impressive job title. status hierarchies tend to be based more on esteem rather than raw power.

Page 9 Esteem is the backbone of status hierarchies, and this form of social approval acts as a benefit in its own right. We like feeling liked. Cecilia Ridgeway, "is not so much about money and power as about being publicly seen and acknowledged as worthy and valuable by the community." Esteem can be expressed through a wide range of palpable benefits. People with above - average status experience favorable interactions -- "salutations, invitations, compliments, and minor services."

Page 10 High status also means more attention and rewards for doing the same work as lower - status individuals. Another favorable interaction is deference -- the right to do as one pleases, at one's own pace, with few interventions or interruptions. An additional status benefit is access to scarce resources.

Page 11 The final status benefit is dominance -- the ability to make others do things against their wishes. high status makes people happy and healthy, All of this demand for higher esteem, however, inherently engenders social conflict:

Page 14 Sociologists describe those born to higher ascribed status categories as status advantaged, and those born outside of those categories as status disadvantaged.

Page 15 The modern ideal is to organize society as a system of achieved status, where a higher position is based on personal achievements rather than immutable characteristics. The promise of status rebirth was for many years a selling point for immigrating to the New World. This opens the question, however, of what actually qualifies as "achievement." the highest achievements must demonstrate rare and valuable talents. Today, achievements tend to be embodied in particular forms of capital. political capital access to power - As meritocracy becomes more of a shared ideal, new forms of capital have emerged.

Page 16 Educational capital - degrees and certifications - Occupational capital - economic capital -- - cash, wealth, and property - Money is very flexible as an asset, converting easily into power over others through business ownership, political connections, donations, and bribes. Social capital -- networks of collegial relationships with elites - additional status criteria generated within the internal logic of the status system itself: namely, cultural capital, detachment, originality, and authenticity. Besides capital, we also have personal virtues that may improve our interactions with others. We can receive esteem in our communities through intelligence, physical attractiveness behavioral and conversational

Page 17 charms personal integrity bodily capital; While personal virtues can open the door to building more reliable forms of capital (and, for the most part, originate in aristocratic mores), they aren't particularly rare or valuable in their own right. The global hierarchy never revolves around the cleverest quips and the freshest breath. Capital determines our membership in groups, and these memberships determine our status. The To "be somebody" in today's world requires accumulating significant amounts of capital, often across multiple criteria. This clustering is called status congruence, and it works to stabilize the status rankings. Despite claims of achieved status, status congruence reveals exactly how inequity becomes entrenched over time.

Page 18 social mobility always appears to be possible, making us feel responsible for our own status. There is one final ramification of achieved status we must also consider: we resent individuals who claim or receive high status without meeting the requisite status criteria. Bertrand Russell "Success should, as far as possible, be the reward of some genuine merit, and not of sycophancy or cunning." The legitimacy of any hierarchy hinges on status integrity -- a collective belief that the ranking of individuals is fair, and that they receive greater benefits for legitimate reasons. Individuals seek higher status -- insofar as its pursuit doesn't risk their current status level.

Page 19 status group. Members of these groups share status beliefs about the value of certain status criteria. Alternative status groups believe in criteria outside of traditional capital. The very best surfers have the most status, and the worst surfers have the least -- irrespective of their 401(k)s and fancy domiciles.

Page 20 In extreme cases this code switching between groups' competing demands can split us into multiple personalities. Social mobility of the modern age allows individuals more freedom to choose their primary status groups. So how do we decide which groups to join? We are all born into a status group, and many remain there forever. Fringe groups flip the script and value extreme negations of traditional virtues.

Page 21 From this perspective, membership in alternative status groups appears to be a clever strategy for oppressed and unprivileged individuals to maximize their status. only provide local status -- surfer can be a great hero among other surfers but just a "beach bum" up the shore. Max Weber dominant groups that tumble down the hierarchy develop particularly strong resentments: "The more they feel threatened, the greater is their bitterness."

Page 22 The Trump voting bloc continues to embrace older status beliefs anchored in ascribed racial, gender, and religious hierarchies, which are losing influence in a more diverse society. Status is thus not just personal but political. Status is an ordinal ranking, an overall increase in wealth only raises the bar for the capital required to gain status. The constant struggles among status groups play a major role in the human experience -- and, as we'll see later, fuel the creation of new culture. Although no society is perfectly meritocratic, modern individuals play a larger role in determining their own status than in the past.

Page 25 a more elementary requirement to gain status: conformity to group norms.

Page 26 earning social approval requires not just making concrete contributions to the group's goals but also following a particular set of arbitrary practices. arbitrary denotes choices where an alternative could serve the same purpose. we can eat, drink, dress, sing, dance, play, and think in a nearly infinite number of ways. And yet, once we settle on a particular behavior, we no longer see our decisions as arbitrary. Our brains provide us with post facto rationalizations for our arbitrary acts.

Page 27 We become particularly stubborn about insisting on the nonarbitrariness of our own cultural practices. What makes us so attached to the arbitrary practices of our community in times when other choices are available? The answer is conventions-well - known, regular, accepted social behaviors that individuals follow and expect others to follow. Conventions assist humans in coordinating around certain choices. Wherever we see people repeating a particular practice and rejecting its equally plausible alternative, there is likely a convention compelling everyone into making the same choice. customs, the tacit rules of a community.

Page 28 traditions, are conventions anchored in historical precedence that serve as explicit symbols of the community. Beliefs can also have conventional elements. short - term conventions we call fads, Fashions are conventions that appear in ornamental areas of life that change on a regular basis. artists play with conventions -- respecting some to woo in audiences and breaking others to create surprise. We ultimately follow conventions to gain social approval and avoid social disapproval, and in doing so, they change our behaviors and organize the data we gather from our senses.

Page 29 For a convention to take root within a community and become "regular" behavior, it must become part of common knowledge -- Moving the population to a new convention requires building new common knowledge.

Page 30 Conventions provide a "solution" when trying to coordinate behaviors with others: Our brains prefer when other people meet our expectations, because this means we don't have to expend extra mental energy on thinking through alternatives. Receiving social approval for upholding conventions and disapproval for violating them has clear effects on our status position.

Page 31 internalization means the origins of most conventions often get lost to the ages. The more the backstory is forgotten, the more conventions seem to be the "natural" order of the world. Violations consequentially are "unnatural" and require sanctions.

Page 32 Not only did they set standards, they enforced them: Internalization unlocks the final power of conventions: setting our perceptual framework for observing the world. The perception of time, for example, is a convention. The idea that major chords sound "happy" and minor chords are "sad"? That's a convention.

Page 33 These internalized conventions are known in sociology as habitus, and they guide our talking, walking, dressing, and thinking, as well as how we judge what is good, correct, fun, and beautiful. the is - ought fallacy - "a very nearly universal tendency of people to move from what is to what ought to be in the strong sense of concluding that what is right or good."

Page 34 To follow the same arbitrary rules as another individual is to be part of the same "collectivity." Paradigm describes these macro - conventions -- the underlying beliefs of a group that set the overall rules for permissible actions, offer guideposts in times of uncertainty, and build the frameworks for understanding and explanation. Ian MacDonald writes, "The Beatles' way of doing things changed the way things were done and, in so doing, changed the way we expect things to be done." "Norms of partiality" benefit one group over another. Majorities commonly promote social norms that advantage themselves over minorities, and in internalizing these biased conventions, even the disadvantaged parties may come to accept them.

Page 35 Even when conventions tend to be obviously unfair or clash against communal principles, challengers face social disapproval for choosing alternatives. Anthony Heath's assertion: the benefits of conformity must be compared with the benefits to be obtained elsewhere, Conventions create habits and patterns of behavior through carrots of social approval and sticks of social disapproval.

Page 37 A superiority of position should be reflected in the superiority of benefits. These are expressed in the expense, quality, and design of possessions; speech patterns (use of polite language or slang); means of earning a living; self - presentation (dress, hair, makeup, fitness); location and quality of domiciles; and hired services (do we mow the lawn or do we pay someone else to do it?).

Page 38 Every convention can be placed on two hierarchies: (1) the tier within a single status group; and (2) the position between groups on the global status ranking.

Page 40 As we move up the status hierarchy, we must adopt conventions with higher status value. Knowing and participating in high - status lifestyle conventions -- even certain greetings, subtle preferences, and nonverbal cues -- is a critical part of gaining and maintaining high status. This particular knowledge is known as cultural capital, defined by the sociologists Michèle Lamont and Annette Lareau as

Page 41 "widely shared high status cultural signals (attitudes, preferences, formal knowledge, behaviors, goods and credentials) used for social and cultural exclusion."

Page 42 During times of broad economic growth, lower status tiers can suddenly afford to take part in higher - status conventions. This raises the standards for all of society. Everyone feels they must also consume at a higher level to retain normal status -- i.e., keeping up with the Joneses. So far we've seen how status requires conformity to certain arbitrary practices, and now we understand that the resulting conventions take on status value. Next we'll apply this knowledge to our own individual behavior -- and how the specific pressures of our status position push us to be alike and also be different.

Page 43 normal status requires following certain conventions. This means imitating our peers, while distinguishing ourselves from the behaviors of lower - status groups and rivals. Meanwhile, achieving higher status requires distinguishing ourselves from our current status tier and imitating the practices of superiors. Humans are hardwired for mimicry and absorb the behaviors of our community. Where imitation most commonly becomes a conscious act is when we join new groups later in life and seek other members' validation.

Page 44 Imitation is required for attaining normal status within a group, but there is an additional requirement: we must affirm our differences from rival groups. Conventional differences are critical for group demarcation, and groups emphasize the distinct conventions that draw these clear lines. counterimitation. Normal status in a group requires both imitation and counterimitation.

Page 44 By definition a higher position requires individual distinction.

Page 45 As long as distinction fits within the collective beliefs of the group, individuals have more leeway to break from the norm. Another low - risk form of individual distinction is emulation -- the chasing of status value through the imitation of higher - status conventions. Emulation is a safe bet, but not a sure one. High status in modern society thus requires satisfying an additional status criterion: to be distinct.

Page 46 good indication of having super - high status, then, is being able to get away with distinctive acts.

Page 47 pluralistic ignorance: the fact that we make our "different" choices without knowing everyone else's next actions.

Page 49 Where we do choose for status value, our brains obfuscate the reasons and tell us we are desiring something more rational.

Page 51 Status must be communicated,

Page 52 The term "signaling" is used in both economics and zoology to describe when individuals communicate their high quality through specific clues in order to be selected by another party.

Page 52 status is given, never taken."

Page 53 Coco Chanel's maxim "If you wish to do business, the first thing is to look prosperous." We don't have to signal to everyone -- only in times of information asymmetry. the highest - status individuals should have strong enough reputations to reduce the need for aggressive signaling.

Page 54 bragging thus become an implicit sign of low status. the principle of detachment: very high - status individuals should seem detached from active attempts to gain status.

Page 55 Great Gatsby, "Her voice is full of money" -- Besides signals and cues, there is an important third category of information used in status appraisals: significant absences. Appraisers also look for what is missing. But the fact that not doing things plays a role in status appraisals means no one can ever opt out of making status claims.

Page 56 status appraisers look for clues in our demeanor and possessions to estimate status, and so the most obvious way to signal a high social position is to show off certain goods or engage in certain behaviors with high status value. To impress "transient observers," economist Thorstein Veblen advises, "the signature of one's pecuniary strength should be written in characters which he who runs may read."

Page 57 The principle of detachment means all status symbols require alibis -- reasons for adoption other than status seeking. Companies that produce luxury goods, from Louis Vuitton to Tiffany, Rolex, and Dom Perignon, understand the need for alibis, and their marketing provides detailed explanations of great craftsmanship, rare materials, unsurpassed comfort, and the highest levels of quality control.

Page 58 Within wealthy communities, the most effective status symbols can be so discreet as to look like unconscious cues.

Page 59 The fact that cachet arises through associations with certain individuals and groups means that it can travel across "chains" of associations. When European elites fell in love with Russian ballet at the turn of the twentieth century, everything Russian took on cachet, including the borzoi breed of dogs.

Page 60 There are five common signaling costs. money. The second cost is time. The third cost is exclusive access. cost is cultural capital -- knowledge of conventions acquired through spending time among high - status people. The final cost is norm breaking.

Page 61 New Money focuses on financial costs. Subcultures thrive on exclusive access and knowledge. This means anything can be a status symbol if it has cachet and high signaling costs. Money may be the most common signaling cost, but in a world with millions and millions of wealthy people, the most credible status symbols need to erect barriers beyond price.

Page 62 Because signals must be subtle, our appraisers may fail to notice them. This is the problem of perceptibility. most people want credit for their hard - earned status symbols. semantic drift: the slow change in words' meanings over time.

Page 63 after reggae musician Bob Marley became a global celebrity, everything Jamaican took on a new cachet, In the 1980s, conservative, pro - business French youth wore stodgy tassel loafers as a subtle protest against the Socialist government. But French leftist youth also started to wear those same shoes to get better tables at upscale restaurants. This diminished the loafer's political valences. In order to get ahead of failures in perceptibility, interpretability, and ambiguity, we adopt certain techniques to ensure semiotic success. The first is choosing the most suitable status symbols for our appraisers.

Page 64 The second is adjusting based on feedback. The final and most important technique is redundancy, Umberto Eco explains, "Every time there is signification there is the possibility of using it in order to lie." Jessica Pressler writes, the indicia of wealth,

Page 65 A significant portion of the modern economy is based on committing light symbolic deceit. Some forms of trickery have become conventional.

Page 66 for those incapable or unwilling to advance through education, training, or hard work, cheating may be the sole means of improving one's status level. research shows that lower - income individuals believe "the game is rigged" and may be already skeptical that hard work is the key to life success.) Triangulation forces us to look beyond single status symbols and toward the entire package of symbols.

Page 69 Like "status" and "culture,""taste" is yet another contentious term of frustrating ambiguity,

Page 70 The modern age of cultural pluralism, however, precludes a single, authoritative standard for good taste. Standards of taste are always relative to the dominant conventions of the era and the society, and so the only way to make sense of taste is to analyze it as a social mechanism.

Page 71 For our purposes, taste is a crucial concept in providing a direct link between status seeking and the formation of individual identities. Our particular tastes may have genetic and psychological elements, but they manifest only in social activity. Our habitus provides the unconscious conventions that decide what we find pleasurable. status value distorts our preferences, making certain objects and conventions more attractive than others. Sociologist Pierre Bourdieu writes that taste is a "match - maker" -- a force that "brings together things" and also "people that go together." Common interests inspire reciprocal judgments of "good taste"

Page 72 By triangulating all the signals, cues, and absences, we understand someone's taste as a gestalt. Individuals occupying a particular taste world share the same broad aesthetic and make similar choices in cars, clothing, music, beverages,

Page 73 taste also involves skill. Judgments on taste don't just classify but gauge personal virtues and talents. The skill aspect of taste means it never just expresses our unconscious habitus, but can be shaped through conscious choices. noble birth -- or the result of self - improvement. We can "cultivate" ourselves over time to make more advanced choices that will garner more respect. Great taste first requires a deep knowledge of potential choices. Kantian taste requires us to find pleasure in things that take time and effort to appreciate: Expanded knowledge, however, is not enough to move up the taste hierarchy. Lifestyle choices also must reveal congruence -- an internal consistency with the target sensibility. established groupings of products are called constellations, and each taste world contains distinct sets.

Page 75 the truest marker of excellent taste is bounded originality. As we learned before, the highest - status individuals can't imitate anyone lower on the hierarchy and, therefore, must make distinctive choices. "To like what one ‘ought' to like is not to exercise taste." Choices should express the individual's exceptional character. requirement for originality "The faculty of taste," writes the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein, "cannot create a new structure, it can only make adjustments to one that already exists. Originality works best when the individual has already established mastery of a high - status sensibility and enjoys high - status privilege.

Page 76 Successful artists forge unique sensibilities by combining preexisting artifacts and conventions in new ways. A shortcut for great taste is arbitrage, finding easily procured things in one location and then deploying them elsewhere where they're rare. Perfect taste, however, doesn't just require making choices that satisfy certain standards. We also have to prove that our choices are appropriate and natural for our particular life stories.

Page 77 "A pine table is a proper thing," stated a nineteenth - century interior design guide, "but a pine table that pretends to be black walnut is an abomination."

Page 78 Authenticity has become particularly important in the modern Authentic taste should be anchored in an individual's specific life journey.

Page 79 Authentic tastes are "natural" tastes -- To be judged as authentic, we must provide information validating the provenance of our taste.

Page 80 By extension, personas appear more authentic when they include a few "mistakes" -- i.e., sloppy behaviors, low - status habits. Perfect taste suggests an overexertion of effort. In men's fashion the ultimate style move is sprezzatura, embracing intentional errors such as undone buttons and misaligned neckties. Intentional amateurism can be attractive for those who already have high status. the central paradox of authenticity: we are supposed to listen to the voice in our hearts, to "discover and articulate our own identity" -- and yet, only others can judge whether we are authentic. Appraisers compare our taste with our demographic profile, and where there is a suspicious mismatch, they deny us status.

Page 81 The most powerful form of authenticity thus remains authenticity by origin: the principle that groups who formulate a convention are the best at replicating it. authenticity by content: the principle that the best things are those made by the original methods Our best tactic is to choose signals close to our immutable characteristics and in line with our origin stories. The high - status individual, writes sociologist George Homans, "can afford to relax and be a natural man."

Page 81 Authenticity can be yet another privilege of the elite.

Page 82 Which "I" are we talking about? There appear to be three: persona, identity, and self. In signaling, we build personas -- observable packages of signals, taste, sensibility, immutable characteristics, and cues absorbed from our upbringing and background. Others use this persona to determine our identity. At the same time, we have a self within our minds, known only to us. Before modern times, personal identity was simply a role and status: membership in a clan, tribe, and caste, as well as the specific position within that community. We now seek an individual identity that transcends demographic categories and classifiers. If we can be easily summarized through stereotype, category, and class alone, we're failures.

Page 83 The effects of status are most obvious in the persona -- the public expression we craft in our social interactions. the pressures of status mean that every individual crafts their public image to some degree. To move up the status ladder, we gravitate toward common goals, such as amassing capital, refining talent, improving personal virtues, and acquiring more impressive status symbols.

Page 84 Certain people are skilled at making choices so bold that their entire persona emerges as "original," but status pressures make complete difference nearly impossible. within the hierarchy determines the degree of difference an individual seeks -- and is allowed to seek.

Page 84 Middle - status individuals, on the other hand, tend to be conservative and follow conventions more closely.

Page 84 Originality is thus an aristocratic privilege.

Page 85 Modernity has democratized the aristocratic propensity toward individual distinction. The nonchalance, speech patterns, and bodily movements of Old Money are status symbols. Advising everyone to "be yourself" is therefore unfair as a broad mandate in a world still marked by bias: not everyone is born into a set of privileged attributes and behaviors. the logic behind identity politics, where individuals sharing demographic characteristics unite to raise the status levels associated with their defining trait. persona crafting remains an important tool for status equalization. To stigmatize persona crafting is, then, to support the status ladder as it exists today.

Page 86 the persona is a mere "application." Receiving an identity requires being identified by others. Why are others identifying us? The most immediate reason for their attention is status appraisal. To properly interact with strangers, we must know their status. We may have control over what others observe, but we have no control over how they classify us. Nor do they: their means of perceiving and identifying us is based on their habitus.

Page 87 As long as the desire for status is fundamental, uniqueness works best only when it is part of a larger status strategy. Charles Taylor writes that we "tend to think that we have selves the way we have hearts and livers," with "our thoughts, ideas, or feelings as being ‘within' us." Yet we now understand that these desires, at least in part, derive from community conventions so internalized they become indistinguishable from instinct. Our brains are always engaged in rationalization: framing raw demands from our subconscious as well - grounded, logical requests.

Page 88 So, with respect to persona, identity, or self, status determines much of who we are.

Page 89 The best we can hope for is a relative originality created in the margins of our persona. For those at the top, the pursuit of distinctiveness is important for receiving higher status. But to foist the requirement of uniqueness on everyone is unnecessary, unnatural, and often cruel. Compared with our ancestors, we enjoy greater flexibility in choosing the most suitable lifestyles and face minimal punishments for deviating from custom. Everyone should know how to win: how to gain esteem, how taste can be refined, how personas are judged, and how to balance detachment, congruence, originality, and authenticity. We all compete for status, whether we like it or not. We can at least better explain the rules to make it a fairer fight.

Page 90 Status Strategy #1: Perform better against the status criteria -- and reveal it in signals.

Page 90 Status Strategy #2: Pretend to be high status.

Page 91 Status Strategy #3: Change the status criteria in your favor. Status Strategy #4: Form a new status group. To seek higher status we choose one or more of these four strategies, and by doing so, we enter into social competition. Individuals attempt to stand out against their peers, inferiors steal the status symbols of superiors, elites fight off upstarts and cheaters, and alternative status groups challenge established status beliefs. Part Two: Status and Creativity

Page 96 the sensibilities underlying taste are never random, independent results of idiosyncratic and irrational minds.

Page 96 Members of socioeconomic classes possess similar status assets, which lead to similar signaling strategies.

Page 96 New Money pours their ample funds into luxury goods for a quick status boost.

Page 96 How do distinct styles, conventions, and sensibilities form? --

Page 96 Humans may be born with a creative instinct, but the need for status - related differentiation motivates individuals to pursue counterintuitive, idiosyncratic, and outrageous inventions. These new ideas form as the shared culture of small communities, and then those groups' global status determines the degree to which they influence the taste of broader society.

Page 96 classes are groups of individuals with common levels of capital who share similar values and convictions.

Page 97 Individuals born into a certain socioeconomic class share a foundational set of unconscious conventions -- i.e., the same habitus. This manifests in communal beliefs, concrete lifestyle differences, and distinct taste worlds. Economic capital consists of money, property, and wealth, whereas cultural capital is the knowledge of high - status conventions required to gain normal status from those in established high - status groups.

Page 99 New Money status symbols thus have very low symbolic complexity: Before consumer society, the main method of overwhelming others with wealth was what Thorstein Veblen calls conspicuous waste -- flamboyant expenditure to demonstrate the possession of unlimited resources.

Page 100 conspicuous leisure -- playing in public while everyone else is hard at work. vicarious consumption -- In their willingness to accept expensive new products for signaling wealth, parvenus are often attracted to novelties -- the latest and greatest styles, gadgets, and fashions.

Page 101 Moreover, novelties align with the core New Money belief that contemporary luxuries are credible status symbols. even in ordinary times, conspicuous consumption violates the principle of detachment. The ultimate flaw with conspicuous consumption is that the artifacts (such as yachts, mansions, and luxury brand goods) themselves inevitably become associated with New Money -- a group lower in status than Old Money. Economists call this the "Veblen effect": goods become more desirable with a higher price tag.

Page 102 In advanced economies, however, New Money status claims face serious opposition from other classes -- starting with a powerful counteroffensive from the established rich.

Page 103 Where New Money desires the latest, biggest, and brightest, Old Money seeks to be modest, antiquated, and muted. "casual, careless, nonchalant, insouciant, easy, unstudied, natural, effortless" New England heiresses drive beat - up station wagons. "detached,""refined," and "urbane" -- But as we'll learn, musty Old Money aesthetics are an equally rational signaling strategy as New Money's money - drenched boasting. Old Money, has an advantage in the longevity of their status superiority, which can be demonstrated through social capital (strong relationships with other rich families) and cultural capital (knowing how to behave at the very top of society).

Page 104 Old Money loathes New Money. Old Money also resents any challenges to the existing social hierarchy. Old Money doesn't have the same cash flow In a world where wealth alone determines status, New Money would rise to the very top of the hierarchy. Fears of this outcome push Old Money to erect new fences based on taste. "Spartan wealth" --

Page 105 countersignaling. Earl of Lonsdale "In London, nobody knows who I am, so it doesn't matter. In Cumberland, everyone knows who I am, so it doesn't matter." Old Money ethos of reduction.

Page 106 Concurrent with modesty is a pursuit of functionality over display. Old Money individuals have not achieved good taste -- they embody good taste. the anthropologist Grant McCracken calls "patina," visual proof of age in possessions.

Page 107 Patina also explains the rustic nature of Old Money aesthetics.

Page 108 Patina also encourages archaism, the preferences for antiquated styles over contemporary alternatives. inside jokes, secret handshakes, and correct cadence of banal chatter.

Page 108 Old Money "curriculum."

Page 109 Old Money aesthetics, then, don't just operate at the top of society but spur imitation among a much larger audience -- specifically, educated middle - class individuals who are also hungry for alternatives to New Money vulgarity.

Page 110 From the 1970s onward, ambitious and highly educated professionals in finance, law, medicine, and big business had begun earning much more than their parents. And in contrast to the rigid conformity of earlier corporate culture -- e.g., IBM once required male employees to wear sock garters -- yuppies pursued a colorful and cosmopolitan life of sophistication. the sensibility embodied in yuppie taste follows the logic of the professional class's signaling needs. They are not as rich as New Money, their cultural capital is learned rather than embodied. they have honed their critical thinking and stockpiled an impressive degree of worldly knowledge. retrieving, and processing vast amounts of information, and the professional class considers their competence in these areas as justified criteria for higher status. Their most valuable signals, privileged information. The Bluffer's Guide to British Class "Taste is entirely a Middle Class concern. The Lower Class don't have it and the Upper Class don't need it." professionals often start by emulating Old Money aesthetics.

Page 111 even if aspiring members of the professional class can't pass for true Old Money, they go out into the world with the analytical abilities to read cultural codes well enough to blend into high society. Old Money taste also better matched professional - class salaries. the Volvo automotive brand became one of the American professional class's favorite cars.

Page 112 "high cultural capital" Americans

Page 113 Media companies catering to this class create middlebrow entertainment: high - minded yet easily digestible content looking to reward an educated audience through winking references to their acquired knowledge. The greatest example may be The Simpsons, which mixes cartoonish ultraviolence with piquant social satire and passing allusions to Ludwig Wittgenstein. The Condé Nast magazine empire -- from Vogue and GQ to The New Yorker -- was built upon teaching the latest high - status conventions to the professional classes, many of whom didn't live in New York to observe the trends themselves. the professional class has splintered into two distinct factions. Those who work in investment banking, private equity,

Page 114 The other faction is the creative class, Richard Florida Being an obscure novelist doesn't provide enough income to thrive but can lead to esteem and other material benefits. the creative class, as we'll see in subsequent chapters, is the first to embrace new styles from nominally lower - status groups and, in doing so, takes the lead in promulgating cultural change. For the rich, culture becomes a realm to communicate symbols of their monetary advantages; members of the professional class, on the other hand, communicate superiority in their manipulation of culture.

Page 115 For many the quickest path to higher social position is Status Strategy #2: Pretend to be high status.

Page 116 There are canons of taste in both rich and poor communities. But even if the status logic of taste holds across classes, the lack of capital results in differences between signaling at the bottom of the ladder and at the top. we should think about kitsch in a value - neutral way -- as a specific type of commercial product that copies the format of high culture (books, music, films, clothing, interior goods) but removes its artistic aspirations. Kitsch is low in symbolic complexity: little irony, few ambiguous emotions, and muted political gestures. stock emotions, Kitsch may be ersatz art, but it delivers the experience of art to everyone.

Page 117 Kitsch feels good immediately, whereas avant - garde art intentionally breaks the very conventions responsible for delivering pleasurable experiences. For those with the right knowledge, such as Old Money and the professional class, kitsch is loathsome. "Consumers of kitsch," writes the philosopher of art Tomáš Kulka, "do not buy kitsch because it is kitsch; they buy it because they take it for art." Kitsch may be pleasurable, but its ubiquity means it doesn't provide any status boost. An advantage in signaling requires standing out. This encourages a flash sensibility -- bright and showy aesthetics, usually achieved through the purchase of low - level luxury goods.

Page 118 in signaling, the poor can't afford to look generic. New Money extravagance and lower - status flash: both groups want big logos. But only New Money can easily buy the real thing.

Page 119 The creators and consumers of mainstream pop culture would never call these products "kitsch," but as we'll see in chapter 8, there is an implicit agreement to meet existing audience expectations with conventional formulas, obvious emotions, and safe political valences.

Page 120 the oft celebrated "elegance of simplicity" isn't an innate human preference but arises from a countersignaling strategy. escaping the class system is also a creative engine for new aesthetic sensibilities.

Page 122 Communities such as gangs and cults offer the disrespected a chance to be reborn as beloved and welcomed comrades. Infamy is often preferable to anonymity. Strategy #4: Form a new status group.

Page 123 But as we learned in chapter 1, this status strategy has a major flaw: individuals in subcultures gain only local status. And if the group's foundational status criteria diverge too greatly from the mainstream, joining a subculture results in a major loss of global status.

Page 124 Compared with subcultures, countercultures tend to embrace explicit ideologies, which members uphold as superior to traditional norms. the hobbyist group: pods of individuals building mutual respect networks based on common interests.

Page 126 While alternative status groups suggest a way to escape the class structure, individual members' tastes are still moored to their habitus. Over time, however, the distinctions between subcultures and countercultures blur, especially as countercultures find inspiration in the "authenticity" of subcultures.

Page 127 Of course the hostile feelings between mainstream society and alternative status groups are mutual.

Page 128 subcultures and countercultures don't form around minor stylistic divergences but around conventions of extreme difference.

Page 129 The easiest method for subcultural distinction is the negation of standard conventions:

Page 130 Members themselves don't see their lifestyles as mere counterimitations, but perceive them as direct expressions of personal feelings.

Page 131 Alternative status groups may represent an escape from the primary social hierarchy, but they're not an escape from status structures in general.

Page 133 Subcultures, then, become more and more extreme in their looks over time -- and yet, it is often their most radical inventions that go on to influence mainstream society.

Page 135 idolization of status inferiors

Page 136 For many burgeoning creative - class members, subcultures and countercultures offered vehicles for daydreaming about an exciting life far from conformist boredom.

Page 136 Defusing not only dilutes the impact of the original inventions but also freezes far - out ideas into set conventions.

Page 137 Most alternative status groups can't survive the parasitism of the consumer market;

Page 138 Vanilla Ice's failed career demonstrates the perils of unironic mimicry.

Page 139 Most subcultures remain marginalized:

Page 141 Innovation, in these cases, is often a by - product of status struggle. Artists are the most well - known example of this more calculated creativity -- and they, too, are motivated by status.

Page 145 Immanuel Kant asserted three still authoritative criteria for artistic genius: (1) the creation of fiercely original works, (2) which over time become imitated as exemplars, and (3) are created through mysterious and seemingly inimitable methods.

Page 145 These Kantian requirements also match the most advanced status criteria of our era -- namely, originality, influence, authenticity, and detachment. Kant's criteria also explain why most creators never make it past lower tiers. Hacks only copy.

Page 146 The most original artworks violate norms, and if they fail to attract critical notice, artists can fall to very low status. less risky, harmonizing others' radical inventions with more established conventions to expand the potential market. Hedging, however, is taboo for the true artist, who must stay detached from any status concerns. Only hacks make art for money and power. This explains why artists so often deny any conscious motivations for their work -- including the desire to make art in the first place.

Page 147 But nearly every artist pursues a specific kind of status: artist status.

Page 148 there is no Wikipedia page for Edna Hibel, Despite great prowess at her craft and the esteem of international luminaries, Hibel never attained the artist status of her predecessors Georgia O'Keeffe and Frida Kahlo

Page 149 The clearest short - term strategy toward achieving artist status, then, is to win acclaim from art world institutions.

Page 149 Philosopher of art Tomáš Kulka explains that there is aesthetic value -- the ability to provide audiences with aesthetic experiences -- and artistic value -- the artwork's solutions to specific art world problems of the era.

Page 150 Artist status requires achieving artistic value, rather than aesthetic value, The aesthetic value of an artwork measures how masterfully an artist can use and abuse existing conventions to elicit emotional experiences from the audience. create and manipulate listeners' Artistic value, on the other hand, measures the originality of the artist's inventions -- i.e., how much the proposed ideas break existing conventions and suggest new ones. In the French poet Charles Baudelaire's famous line, "The chief task of genius is precisely to invent a stereotype" (emphasis added). To create within the framework of someone else's stereotype makes the creator an epigone, and their work is mere "taste."

Page 151 There are perhaps an infinite number of potential problems in art, but to gain artist status, artists must solve the agreed - upon problems of the current moment.

Page 152 Most audiences delight in minor innovations, not major challenges to their preferred art forms.

Page 153 Music listeners are happy with small surprises but expect conformity to familiar notions of melody, harmony, and rhythm. Yet deep cuts are required to achieve artistic value.

Page 153 Gertrude Stein noted that all important art is "irritating" and Marcel Duchamp quipped, "A painting that doesn't shock isn't worth painting."

Page 153 In the early days of modern art, indignation became a clear sign of artistic success. At the bottom of the pyramid, there is little to lose and much to gain. This explains why youth tend to be more radical than adults.

Page 154 At any time, rebellious artists always have an opening: either offer new solutions to these issues in good faith or cynically exploit the flaws of the established order to justify a new position.

Page 156 Anyone can propose shocking ideas; only geniuses gain prestige and legitimacy for them. Artists don't anticipate future conventions so much as they create them through the influence process. Avant - garde ideas, however, can break escape velocity from the avant - garde community only if broader audiences no longer believe their appreciation will lead to negative social consequences. Cachet, thus, opens minds to radical propositions of what art can be and how we should perceive it.

Page 157 most movements, such as punk or grunge, develop organically as young artists converge on the same techniques. William Wordsworth believed that "every author, as far as he is great and at the same time original, has had the task of creating the taste by which he is to be enjoyed." the fastest way for creators to gain artist status is to win over gatekeepers in the art world.

Page 160 New Money deploys easily interpretable signals. Groups with limited economic capital, in contrast, must rely on symbolically complex conventions for effective barriers.

Page 161 With no money at their disposal, punks raise fences through radical fashions and behaviors. Most aspiring artists secure their desired level of status through repeating others' inventions. But in societies that value originality, influence, and mystery, many people will attempt to attain high status through the creation of subversive ideas.

Page 162 Societies that value radical invention end up with more diverse cultural ecosystems, a great abundance of artifacts, and a multiplicity of sensibilities.

Page 163 the demands for originality pushed many artists to disturb conventions so deeply embedded in our brains that the artworks never found large audiences.

Page 169 we know that all public behaviors, including the use of technologies and products, become signals in status appraisals.

Page 170 Fashion, writes the philosopher George Santayana, is the "barbarous" variety of cultural change that "produces innovation without reason and imitation without benefit."

Page 171 Everett Rogers's authoritative theory on the diffusions of innovations. (" Invention" is a new idea; "innovation" describes the invention's use and widespread adoption.)

Page 172 innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, and laggards. What slows down adoption by majorities? They often have unequal access But status also plays a major role.

Page 173 most people seek to participate publicly in new trends only where status value becomes obviously positive.

Page 174 Elites must be arbiter elegantiarum -- tastemakers, not taste - followers. Status also explains why innovativeness is found at the bottom of society as well. Outsiders, exiles, and misfits don't worry about the social risks of trying new things, because they have little status to lose. low - status convention - breaking is viewed as "deviance" and may not inspire any immediate imitation.

Page 175 Elites flock to three particular categories of items that fulfill their needs: rarities, novelties, and technological innovations. This desire for rarities also increases demand for authenticity. Status symbols such as these don't need to be rare in an absolute sense. They only need to be perceived as rare within the community.

Page 177 Elite adoption imbues innovations with status value, which makes them attractive to individuals in lower tiers.

Page 179 A name turns vague impressions and feelings into "things" up for discussion.

Page 181 broadcasting deplorable acts boosts their status value and creates an allure in infamy.

Page 192 The overall effect of commercialization is conservative: removing radical ideas and providing mass audiences with simplified versions claimed to be equal to the original.

Page 193 Publicity and physical distribution also help achieve the repetition required to build common knowledge.

Page 194 After a significant number of people in a population embrace a new convention, it takes on its own gravity -- pulling along further adopters like a planet attracts smaller objects. At this point in the diffusion process, the primary motivation for adoption flips from distinction for high status to imitation for normal status. Mass culture also gains new strength through network effects. The more people participate in a convention, the more useful it will be for interacting and communicating with others.

Page 196 The embrace of laggards kills trends dead, and this marks the end of the diffusion process.

Page 197 as long as non - elites are able to imitate elite conventions, status seeking will always change culture. Low - status individuals chase high - status individuals by imitating their conventions, which forces elites to flee to new ones. Since this fleeing will lead to another round of chasing and then fleeing, fashion creates perpetual cultural change, with status serving as the motor.

Page 198 Humans spend a significant portion of their incomes each year chasing cachet without making real status gains.

Page 201 Fashion cycles appear to be a waste of time and energy, moving the population from one arbitrary practice to another for no reason other than elitist distinction and social conformity.

Page 204 The previous chapter laid out how status seeking can move new conventions through a population. At any particular moment, however, culture is more than an accumulation of the latest fashions: it's a complex sediment of new and old, dynamic and static, superficial and deep, unconscious and conscious.

Page 205 In this chapter we'll investigate the sources of historical value and see how it makes certain conventions endure beyond their initial fashion cycle. Eric Hobsbawm explains, is "a particular selection from the infinity of what is remembered or capable of being remembered." History is, thus, not the stories we tell about ourselves, but a connection of moments that specific well - positioned, high - status individuals choose to highlight and perpetuate.

Page 206 What is the appeal of historical value? survivorship bias: anything that remains with us today is assumed to have greater intrinsic value.

Page 206 endurance is a powerful signaling cost. widespread common knowledge. Rational humans, especially conservative ones toward the middle of the status hierarchy, will choose older forms over newer ones when signaling, and this keeps older conventions in circulation.

Page 207 Conservative communities draw upon tradition to guide their decision making. High - status individuals and groups may have an implicit influence on our habits and customs, but they wield explicit influence on traditions. For all their literary innovations, twentieth - century authors often pulled their book titles from the Bible --

Page 208 A canon is necessary, scholars believed, because future generations can never consume all works from the past. Of the tens of thousands of novels written in the nineteenth century, we only still read about two hundred. The canon thus promises guidance toward the highest - quality and most influential works.

Page 209 artworks must transcend the basic conventions of their era, so that future audiences will still be able to take unique value from the work. Popularity can keep works in the collective dialogue, but critical appraisal is more important for long - term survival.

Page 210 there is always hope for the forgotten.

Page 214 retro,

Page 214 Simon Reynolds as "a self - conscious fetish for period stylisation (in music, clothes, design) expressed creatively through pastiche and citation." retro is the ironic use of kitsch from the recent past as novelties. Jean Cocteau observes: "Art produces ugly things which frequently become more beautiful with time. Fashion, on the other hand, produces beautiful things which always become ugly with time."

Page 216 Retro provided an excellent source of innovations because the development costs are so low. Inventing from scratch is difficult and time - consuming. Glenn O'Brien explains, "Things come back into fashion after they have hit the bottom of the vintage barrel and are adopted by poor but stylish youth, who are then noticed and imitated by fashion designers."

Page 217 Parody and camp prefer mannerist interpretations over accurate reproductions.

Page 219 generation. "A work is eternal," writes the literary theorist Roland Barthes, "not because it imposes a single meaning on different men, but because it suggests different meanings to a single man, speaking the same symbolic language in all ages: the work proposes, man disposes."

Page 225 The move from analog to digital has altered the nature of social interaction, consumerism, signaling, and taste. And all of these structural changes hinder the creation of a critical ingredient underlying our appreciation of culture -- status value.

Page 226 They also debase cultural capital as an asset, which makes popularity and economic capital even more central in marking status. The end result, at least so far, has been less incentive for individuals to both create and celebrate culture with high symbolic complexity.

Page 226 Duncan Watts's warning: "The Internet isn't really a thing at all. Rather, it's shorthand for an entire period of history, and all the interlocking technological, economic, and social changes that happened therein."

Page 226 The influx of users has changed the nature of internet content.

Page 227 over just three decades, the internet became the primary site where we interact with others and create personas. As the economist - blogger Noah Smith quipped, "Fifteen years ago, the internet was an escape from the real world. Now, the real world is an escape from the internet." Our status claims are no longer limited to real - life interactions or mass media reports of our real - life interactions. Social media also enables us to quantify our status like never before: in likes, retweets, comments, and followers, and, for those at the top, in the number of brands reaching out with free products and promotional opportunities.

Page 228 Beyond signals being devalued in toto, the internet has also debased two critical signaling costs: barriers to information and barriers to acquisition. The second factor draining status value is the explosion of content and goods. In the twentieth century, finite limits on pages and broadcast time restricted our knowledge of goods, artists, artworks, and styles. The internet is infinite: mass customization enables consumers to tweak existing products into any number of personalized versions.

Page 229 Pursuit of originality is correlated to top and bottom positions in a hierarchy. Most people don't want extreme uniqueness.

Page 230 The explosion of media outlets also leads to lower status values.

Page 230 we have come to expect random things of dubious quality to attract attention.

Page 230 Culture is collapsing around a small number of massive mainstream artists, athletes, and celebrities with enough industrial support to have staying power.

Page 231 The final factor behind a reduction in status value is the inherent high speed of the internet, which disrupts traditional fashion cycles. Elite groups need time to be the sole adopters of an innovation for it to gain cachet.

Page 232 The frenzied pace of internet culture thus pushes humans far beyond the acceptable rate of changes to our personas. The quantity and velocity of information also robs us of the time to form emotional and sentimental bonds with artworks. On the internet there are more things, but fewer arrive with clear and stable status value. As part of our desire for status, we chase status value. And so if niche culture lacks status value, many have fled the long tail to return to the head.

Page 232 We live in a paradise of options, and the diminished power of gatekeepers has allowed more voices to flourish. The question is simply whether internet content can fulfill our basic human needs for status distinction. When a trend evaporates as a superficial fad, there may not be enough collective memory for it to take on historical value, either.

Page 233 Cultural capital is less valuable in a world of free information, and this raises the relative value of economic capital. supercars, it is clear that globalization and technology are changing the composition of the status ladder.

Page 236 Despite a brief revival of Old Money taste in men's fashion from around 2008 to 2015, the antiquated, musty sensibility has lost its allure. This reached a symbolic peak with the 2020 bankruptcy of Brooks Brothers --

Page 237 the professional - class tech billionaires, who are forming their own taste culture. Naturally, professional - class billionaires flex in their own way. Snug - fit athleisure shows off chiseled bodies and good health, achievable only through strict discipline, personal trainers, and staff nutritionists. Conspicuous leisure

Page 238 For a long time the professional classes had a dominating impact on the aesthetics of the online space. The days may be numbered where tech elites and the creative class exclusively determine the basic taste on the main platforms of the internet.

Page 239 the often ignored, increasingly bitter provincial lower - middle - class sensibility of white majorities.

Page 239 As the lower middle class falls in status, the "conservative" majority appears to have found respect for the Trump version of bling, especially when opulence and excess humiliate the professional classes. An important counterimitation for the entire group is to "own the libs" by reveling in whatever the professional class abhors: guns, coal, bleak suburban restaurant chains, giant pickup trucks. This open antagonism against liberal "decency" -- and proximity to vindictive politics and outright bigotry -- only makes the professional classes feel even more righteous about their own cosmopolitan tastes.

Page 240 the professional class itself has rejected the legitimacy of taste.

Page 241 All cultural snootiness is now tedious. omnivore taste. The virtuous "cultured" individual should consume and like everything -- not just high culture, but pop and indie, niche and mass, new and old, domestic and foreign, primitive and sophisticated. Where cultural capital exists, it is now "multicultural capital." The professional - class suspicion of highbrow intellectualism, however, has much earlier roots.

Page 242 In the past, taste worked as a social classifier by drawing clear lines between social groups; omnivorism drains this power by declaring nearly everything suitable for consumption. In many ways omnivorism is the only possible taste left. A singular notion of good taste is unjustifiable in a cosmopolitan world.

Page 242 Cosmopolitanism is not just a superficial embrace of cultural diversity but a conscious rejection of the is - ought fallacy.

Page 242 To proclaim superiority of preferred styles over others is accordingly an arrogant and bigoted act.

Page 243 Outside of politics, taste has also come to seem absurd in a world of hyperspeed fashion cycles. Conventions function best when the population is ignorant of their existence. the problem with capital - T Taste is that it disenfranchises huge swaths of the population and overallocates money and status to established elites.

Page 244 The most vocal complaint against "the culture wars" is that it channels political energy to changing superficial symbols rather than working toward structural changes to the economy and the law. But everything in this book points to the fact that culture matters for status equality.

Page 245 The concept of guilty pleasures is a relic of old - timey snobbery. If there is no intrinsic superiority of high culture over low culture, there's no longer any need to suffer through long, difficult books or boring black - and - white Swedish movies. veers toward monoculture. Second, omnivorism has an inherent hypocrisy. There is no way to accept all conventions, because of their inevitably contradictory nature.

Page 246 Fences do exist -- they are just openly political ones. cultural literacy for the last few decades requires reading a few serious books every year but also consuming products from the largest conglomerates: Marvel superhero movies (Walt Disney), Beyoncé (Columbia/Sony), Keeping Up with the Kardashians (Ryan Seacrest Productions backed by iHeartMedia, Inc., the new corporate name for the widely loathed Clear Channel).

Page 247 By denying taste as a tool and hesitating to criticize popular works, outsider groups and critics have surrendered their primary way of pushing back. George W. S. Trow predicted in the 1980s: "Nothing was judged -- only counted." With artists less reliable to rip up convention, the responsibility for creativity may now fall to youth subcultures. But we seem to be in a "post - subculture" world.

Page 248 David Muggleton writes, "Perhaps the very concept of subculture is becoming less applicable in postmodernity, for the breakdown of mass society has ensured that there is no longer a coherent dominant culture against which a subculture can express its resistance." Subcultures may be waning but hard - core fan cultures are stronger than ever.

Page 249 Declarations of a post - subculture world are too hasty; there is plenty of subcultural behavior -- just not where we used to seek The most potent subcultures of this new century, by contrast, have formed as a reaction to liberal omnivorism -- appearing on the right flank of the political spectrum. Right - wing youth form status groups with their own conventions, slang, and styles, and they reward one another for the most outrageous lib - owning. Rightist subcultures revel in the "bad taste" of guns, fast food, and un - PC jokes -- a counterimitation of effete cosmopolitans that effete cosmopolitans are unlikely to embrace. The video game industry is now larger than sports or films, and a 2020 study found that 68 percent of male Gen Zers considered gaming a key ingredient of their identity. Taste was a powerful signaling cost -- a nonmonetary way to keep certain styles and artifacts within the confines of certain communities. By rejecting taste, omnivorism weakens cultural and subcultural capital to the point of nonexistence.

Page 250 As a result, raw wealth becomes a more obvious criterion for status distinction.

Page 253 neomania. For much of human history, storytelling was the exclusive privilege of designated elders, bookish scholars, and ambitious artists. To create motion pictures, aspiring filmmakers had to pay their dues at schools and in the industry before getting their hands on a camera. The internet opened storytelling to everyone, a development

Page 253 long beheld as a great democratic revolution. But this also has robbed nerds of their longtime monopoly on content creation and gatekeeping. TikTok is its "mediocrity," writes Vox's Rebecca Jennings: "No one follows you because they expect you to be talented. They follow you because they like you."

Page 254 There may be an "elite TikTok" of odd videos and "BookTok" of literary suggestions, but the more representational and seemingly beloved video content is kids simply being kids. the neomania mask is pretending to have no mask at

Page 255 When culture centered around canons, radical artists learned history in order to know the enemy. digital natives have little incentive to memorize and analyze the past. Familiarity with the canon is what allowed radical artists to gauge the innovation of their own works.

Page 256 Online stars are making millions a year without validation from established institutions. Every structural change we've noted in this chapter -- pay - by - click internet platforms, the rise of a new nouveau riche, the death of cultural capital -- incentivizes creators to aim for amassing economic capital rather than cultural capital. Attracting large audiences is much easier with lowest - common - denominator content than with "art." The content follows the monetization. Follower counts and gross earnings appear to be the only relevant sign of cultural import.

Page 257 Within neomania, an open materialism bends the cultural ecosystem toward a full embodiment of capitalist logic. Our fears of cultural stasis, then, may be less about the creation of new artifacts, styles, and sensibilities than about their failure to take over mainstream culture.

Page 258 As this combines with a new nouveau riche emerging outside of the West and hungry to climb up the global status ladder, economic capital has reemerged as a clearer status criterion than cultural capital. a world of omnivore taste where nothing is great because everything is good. Pierre Bourdieu calls hysteresis -- the lingering values of a previous age continuing to guide our judgments. why should we still be enamored with fame at all when fame is so cheap? Maybe soon we won't be. And there are many other values we're likely to abandon as the internet age becomes the only age we know: historical value, artistic legacy, authenticity.

Page 259 The internet provides a new platform for human interaction, but it has not dissolved the link between status and culture. The final question should then be: If we now understand their interlocking principles, how should we use this knowledge to promote the best outcomes for both -- equality and creativity? Conclusion: Status Equality and Cultural Creativity

Page 261 status changes our tastes,

Page 262 We set out at the beginning of this book to solve the Grand Mystery of Culture -- to determine why individuals cluster in their preferences for certain arbitrary practices and then switch to new ones over time. But in answering this question, we have arrived at a much deeper insight: Status structures provide the underlying conventions for each culture, which determine our behaviors, values, and perception of reality. The struggle for higher status -- whether striving for basic equality or angling for the very top -- shapes individual identities, spurs creativity and cultural change, and forms customs and traditions. Humans may possess an innate desire to create, but their inventions achieve broader diffusion when they fulfill others' status needs.

Page 263 The fundamental desire for status offers a clearer explanation in demonstrating why rational individuals end up forming the most commonly observed behavioral patterns. Conventions tend to "express" something only when they classify us as members of certain groups. Culture enables us to transmit human knowledge, but the specific content -- customs, traditions, classics, and the canon -- tilts toward the preferences and behaviors of high - status individuals.

Page 264 Taste is never only about the thing itself -- e.g., the flavor of a wine or the mechanical superiority of a car. Civilization is fundamentally symbolic, and every choice communicates social position.

Page 265 fashions are never aggregations of all individual choices: they are specific narratives that specific high - status institutions introduce to the public.

Page 267 equality. All social stratification produces a few winners and many losers. Bertrand Russell "The forms of happiness which consist of victory in a competition cannot be universal."

Page 268 Humans are adept at turning any small advantage into a status marker. Noah Smith calls the "redistribution of respect."

Page 269 While we can't outlaw signaling, we could attempt to reduce its frequency and effectiveness. This is the point of uniforms; All luxuries should be seen as status markers, not superior conveniences. Complexity doesn't have to involve impenetrable or esoteric art, just the skillful manipulation of higher - order symbols in new and surprising ways. Complexity is good for our brains.

Page 271 The nefarious uses of cultural capital, however, have convinced many we should abolish the entire idea of taste. Complex art must be bad if it affords elite audiences any sense of superiority over mass audiences. And in democratic society, popularity appears to be a much fairer measure of quality than the opinions of an overeducated cabal. The people have spoken, and Drake, not John Cage, has amassed a fortune large enough to build a home of "overwhelming high luxury." the skepticism toward cultural capital has done little to flatten the status hierarchy; in fact, it has made economic capital a much more powerful asset in signaling.