Anxious Status

"By examining how the brain responds to 'cool' products, we discovered that they help fulfill a basic human need: to be recognized and respected by others. Our brains contain what’s basically a 'social calculator' that keeps track of how we think other people are thinking about us—we feel its results as social emotions like pride and shame. Today, it's typically called 'social status,' but that has lingering negative connotations. We found that products are basically extensions of ourselves that reflect who we are—we use them to bond with others who share the same values. Doing this successfully was key to survival throughout human evolutionary history—you really needed allies, friends, and partners to survive. There are lots of ways to gain status—it's what even drives some Westerners to join ISIS—but integrating our need for status into the economy was, in our opinion, an enormously important feat. It allows the ways to gain status to expand over time, and it shows why the third myth is false—we use products to create lifestyles and community. That also reveals why the fourth myth is false. Consumerism isn't just about materialism. We use products socially—music is a great example. Look at all the lifestyles arranged around various musical tastes."


Bourree Lam at The Atlantic interviews Steven Quartz and Anette Asp, authors of Cool: How the Brain's Hidden Quest for Cool Drives Our Economy and Shapes Our World.