Quote:
Originally Posted by QuantumIguana
Things you can purchase are much easier ways of demonstrating status than things you do. It is still pretty overwhelmingly in favor of objects.
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Sure... but today anyone can
buy something. And as we approach a world of 3-D printers, eventually reproducing objects within a molecule of the original, the value and status of objects, even art, can be expected to drop precipitously. In that world, what's a better status-indicator than doing things that are too difficult or impossible for others to do?
In the same way that an apartment dweller today displays his ipod and stereo attachment, instead of walls of albums, a person can more practically display a reader than a wall of books.
Of course, one of the aspects of displaying status is that the display itself is almost never practical...