I think a lot about status as a primitive that drives human behavior. 

Ape brains are wired for hierarchy, because high status ensured greater access to resources like food and mates.

Even if we fulfill all human material needs, like with a hypothetical luxurious UBI, people will still attempt to one-up each other in the status game in ways no longer tied to resources. 

In a sense, status is more persistent as a driver of human behavior than literal survival needs.

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