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We are social beings. We live in a society. Being close to others is not a status symbol, it is what makes us, us. I eat at nice restaurants because the food is

We are social beings. We live in a society. Being close to others is not a status symbol, it is what makes us, us. I eat at nice restaurants because the food is delicious. I enjoy the culture. I enjoy a wide variety live music. These are not status symbols, these are the essence of a joie de vivre. I enjoy walking to my local shops and boutiques, not for the status but because it is genuinely enjoyable of its own merit.

mlthoughts2018 8y ago
Your reply sounds like an absolutely classic reply of someone driven very much by social status signalling. Especially the whole “I don’t buy into status-seeking; I just like ‘quality’ experiences” thing — which just begs the question, where does your notion of quality come from? “I enjoy walking to my local shops...” is the same as saying you like being high-status and commanding the existence of a local bazaar that caters to the tastes that you and other city-dwellers have glamorized. > “These are not status symbols, these are the essence of a joie de vivre.” I can scarcely think of a stronger appeal to status-seeking than this. (I don’t say any of this to be critical of you. I live in a large city and am fully aware that part of why I enjoy it and identify with it is all based on deep-seated, culturally-ingrained, and even subconcious emphasis on status-seeking. I just mean that it’s so deeply woven into our lives that we don’t realize and often think we’re somehow “better” than that, which is just more virtue signalling.)
- deleted 8y ago
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- bigmanwalter 8y ago
  You most definitely can separate the fashionable, and status-seeking aspects out from urban culture. I live in Canada. The traditional cuisine is bland, and fresh produce grows only a few months of the year. I see my love of sushi as a product of globalization and urbanization as much as is my ability to get decent fruit from the grocery store in the heart of winter. Sure I could have a root cellar and eat potatoes and beef all winter, but sushi is delicious. It cannot be just status. High demand and low supply has a tendency to price the best cultural products in high status territory.
  - IkmoIkmo 8y ago
    Somehow this reminds me of the history of lobster as cheap food for the poor and imprisoned. People detested it. Until of course the status of lobster changed. Or the fact aluminium used to be extremely expensive and thus used for the most precious cutlery, ornaments etc. Until of course it became dirt cheap to produce. Some things really are related to the ideas we hold, not reality itself. You can see this in blind tests of foods or drinks like wines, the blind ratings often don't correspond with their reputation or price. Bourdieu's book la distinction is quite a good treatise on this topic. Taste and what we consider artful or high quality is much more constructed by our environment than by any innate or objective measure, we tend to fool ourselves on this point.
    - bigmanwalter 8y ago
      It is easier to taste the fruit of globalization and interact with a larger slice of society by living in the city. Status plays a part but is not the primary driver behind satisfaction from urban life.

mlthoughts2018 8y ago

Your reply sounds like an absolutely classic reply of someone driven very much by social status signalling. Especially the whole “I don’t buy into status-seeking; I just like ‘quality’ experiences” thing — which just begs the question, where does your notion of quality come from? “I enjoy walking to my local shops...” is the same as saying you like being high-status and commanding the existence of a local bazaar that caters to the tastes that you and other city-dwellers have glamorized. > “These are not status symbols, these are the essence of a joie de vivre.” I can scarcely think of a stronger appeal to status-seeking than this. (I don’t say any of this to be critical of you. I live in a large city and am fully aware that part of why I enjoy it and identify with it is all based on deep-seated, culturally-ingrained, and even subconcious emphasis on status-seeking. I just mean that it’s so deeply woven into our lives that we don’t realize and often think we’re somehow “better” than that, which is just more virtue signalling.)

deleted 8y ago
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bigmanwalter 8y ago
You most definitely can separate the fashionable, and status-seeking aspects out from urban culture. I live in Canada. The traditional cuisine is bland, and fresh produce grows only a few months of the year. I see my love of sushi as a product of globalization and urbanization as much as is my ability to get decent fruit from the grocery store in the heart of winter. Sure I could have a root cellar and eat potatoes and beef all winter, but sushi is delicious. It cannot be just status. High demand and low supply has a tendency to price the best cultural products in high status territory.
- IkmoIkmo 8y ago
  Somehow this reminds me of the history of lobster as cheap food for the poor and imprisoned. People detested it. Until of course the status of lobster changed. Or the fact aluminium used to be extremely expensive and thus used for the most precious cutlery, ornaments etc. Until of course it became dirt cheap to produce. Some things really are related to the ideas we hold, not reality itself. You can see this in blind tests of foods or drinks like wines, the blind ratings often don't correspond with their reputation or price. Bourdieu's book la distinction is quite a good treatise on this topic. Taste and what we consider artful or high quality is much more constructed by our environment than by any innate or objective measure, we tend to fool ourselves on this point.
  - bigmanwalter 8y ago
    It is easier to taste the fruit of globalization and interact with a larger slice of society by living in the city. Status plays a part but is not the primary driver behind satisfaction from urban life.