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Here's how you cheaply train a dog. You use a different brand of kibble as the reward instead of treats. As long as it's given out in a rarer amount than their regular food, the dog will see it as a status symbol. Status symbols are mostly COMMUNICATED through difficulty/rarity

E.g. beauty standards are fashionable. A "prettier" girl will get much more attention from men despite nothing "intrinsic" being different. Why are the men chasing them? B/c they are responding to the communicated status symbol & don't have an intrinsic sense of value.

Marketing/porn/movies/etc.... communicate the status markers and some women are very good at makeup/dressing (10,000 hr!) to hit them. Needy men then go after them b/c they want the "good dog" pat on the back for achieving the rare thing!

This gives off a vibe of being "teacher's pet" (the teacher here being 'society') From a hierarchical perspective, needing less "good dog" pats means higher up in the hierarchy or "free" from society somehow. (It's like having a personal Escape From Social Pressure VIP Jet)

Anyone who is trying to BECOME status symbols and anyone who is trying to ACHIEVE status symbols are both exhibiting neediness and repel each other. The issue is non-needy only want non-needy so these needy people CONSTANTLY bump into each other at needy holes.

Because the dog does not differentiate taste that finely (though it will for different classes of activity like praise, tug-of-war, pats, belly rubs, chewing treat, big treat, etc...) it's possible to create artificial status much more easily.

The core signal of being high status is "Having good taste" because that means one is less susceptible to manipulated status and so is more "free" from society. You feel like you can "run away together" with someone who is high class while you feel stuck in the mud w/ low class.