Not every human choice is a direct result of status seeking, but when attempting to explain cultural change on a macro level, status value should be considered as the primary factor. 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. This suggests that evolutionary biology, neuroscience, and mathematical modeling, taken in isolation, aren’t sufficient for diagnosing cultural patterns.
