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What was the utility of such extreme indulgence? Did the process of attaining these social positions select for greed? Was there some social proof evinced by th

What was the utility of such extreme indulgence? Did the process of attaining these social positions select for greed? Was there some social proof evinced by these acts that garnered prestige? Maybe there was no utility, and this behavior was simply incidental?

poisonborz 2y ago
Networking, showcasing power, indebting your guests with your grace. It was common throughout history, as it is today.
Aeolun 2y ago
Honestly, if you are ruling a literal empire, throwing an extravagant dinner party seems like a relatively benign use of power? Like, of course a bunch of them were bored and did even more degenerate stuff, but most of it just seems plain political convenience? In modern times, if you have guests worth several billion over you don’t expect to impress them with a fancy pudding either.
VoodooJuJu 2y ago
lmao, as if people from the past are any different from people today. Utility? People just like to have a good time. Hosts like to throw a good party, sometimes a wild one, they indulge. Simple as. >Did the process of attaining these social positions select for greed Fucking lmao. Idk man...but if I had a lot of money, I'd probably also allocate a bit extra to the party planning committee, because big parties are fun. It's just fun. I'm not sure there's any bestial, Darwinian, or Machiavellian machinery at play. Those are all modern impositions. It's just good fun.
082349872349872 2y ago
The poor person (whether cultured or uncultured) can't throw sumptuously lavish dinner parties. The pervenitus (Trimalchio, Monsieur Jourdain, James Gatz[0]) can, but usually manages to avoid throwing tastefully lavish dinner parties. Finally, dinner parties are rivalrous goods: just like you can't dance at two weddings, you can't really attend two dinner parties the same[1] evening (although Trimalchio's guests discuss approaches), making them an excellent way for hosts to keep score. See https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40010481 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40010481 [0] who, tbf, did have ulterior motives for his. Kitschy as it may be, I prefer the plot of Миллион алых роз to the Daisy/Jay dynamic, however: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Million_Roses https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Million_Roses Does Majnun ever throw any parties as cover for approaching Layla? [1] beware of faerie dinner parties: a single evening there may be decades in real time

poisonborz 2y ago

Networking, showcasing power, indebting your guests with your grace. It was common throughout history, as it is today.

Aeolun 2y ago

Honestly, if you are ruling a literal empire, throwing an extravagant dinner party seems like a relatively benign use of power? Like, of course a bunch of them were bored and did even more degenerate stuff, but most of it just seems plain political convenience? In modern times, if you have guests worth several billion over you don’t expect to impress them with a fancy pudding either.

VoodooJuJu 2y ago

lmao, as if people from the past are any different from people today. Utility? People just like to have a good time. Hosts like to throw a good party, sometimes a wild one, they indulge. Simple as. >Did the process of attaining these social positions select for greed Fucking lmao. Idk man...but if I had a lot of money, I'd probably also allocate a bit extra to the party planning committee, because big parties are fun. It's just fun. I'm not sure there's any bestial, Darwinian, or Machiavellian machinery at play. Those are all modern impositions. It's just good fun.

082349872349872 2y ago

The poor person (whether cultured or uncultured) can't throw sumptuously lavish dinner parties. The pervenitus (Trimalchio, Monsieur Jourdain, James Gatz[0]) can, but usually manages to avoid throwing tastefully lavish dinner parties. Finally, dinner parties are rivalrous goods: just like you can't dance at two weddings, you can't really attend two dinner parties the same[1] evening (although Trimalchio's guests discuss approaches), making them an excellent way for hosts to keep score. See https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40010481 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40010481 [0] who, tbf, did have ulterior motives for his. Kitschy as it may be, I prefer the plot of Миллион алых роз to the Daisy/Jay dynamic, however: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Million_Roses https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Million_Roses Does Majnun ever throw any parties as cover for approaching Layla? [1] beware of faerie dinner parties: a single evening there may be decades in real time