Status and Culture: How Our Desire for Social Rank Creates Taste, Identity, Art, ...

Books

"Subtly altered how I see the world." -Michelle Goldberg, New York Times "[Status and Culture] consistently posits theories I'd never previously considered that instantly feel obvious." -Chuck Klosterman, author of The Nineties "Why are you the way that you are? Status and Culture explains nearly everything about the things you choose to be-and how the society we live in takes shape in the process." -B.J. Novak, writer and actor Solving the long-standing mysteries of culture-from the origin of our tastes and identities, to the perpetual cycles of fashions and fads-through a careful exploration of the fundamental human desire for status All humans share a need to secure their social standing, and this universal motivation structures our behavior, forms our tastes, determines how we live, and ultimately shapes who we are. We can use status, then, to explain why some things become "cool," how stylistic innovations arise, and why there are constant changes in clothing, music, food, sports, slang, travel, ...