Easy access to information destroys its power as a status signal.

Evidence

Information can’t be a strong signaling cost when “information wants to be free.” In the early 1960s, Bob Dylan had to literally steal folk records from an acquaintance in order to achieve his impressive mastery of the genre. YouTube allows anyone to learn almost any song without committing any misdemeanors—but will audiences be as impressed? — W. David Marx, Status and Culture, 707

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Global scale renders subtle status signals invisible and favors blatant ones. — W. David Marx, Status and Culture: How Our Desire for…, 733; Global status signaling favors easily readable wealth over obscure cultural codes. — W. David Marx, Status and Culture: How Our Desire for…, 727; Information can produce, bypass, or actively destroy meaning — Jean Baudrillard, Simulacra and Simulation, 266 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Information clarity neutralizes advantage of unscrupulous opportunists #corroborates (0.80) — Diego Gambetta, Trust - Making and Breaking Cooperative…, 591
• Information can produce, bypass, or actively destroy meaning #expands (0.75) — Jean Baudrillard, Simulacra and Simulation, 266
• Instrumentalizing communication has destroyed our sense of truth itself #expands (0.75) — James W. Carey, Communication as Culture- Essays on…, 378