Mastery of a society’s codes enables successful passage through its culture

Evidence

Yet such classical communities linked by sacred languages had a character distinct from the imagined communities of modern nations. One crucial difference was the older communities’ confidence in the unique sacredness of their languages, and thus their ideas about admission to membership. Chinese mandarins looked with approval on barbarians who painfully learned to paint Middle Kingdom ideograms. These barbarians were already halfway to full absorption. Half-civilized was vastly better than barbarian. — Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities, 61 (#exemplifies, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Sacred-language communities absorbed outsiders through script mastery — Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities: Reflections on…, 61; Global status signaling favors easily readable wealth over obscure cultural codes. — W. David Marx, Status and Culture: How Our Desire for…, 727; Societal success hinges on which prestige-valued domains a culture honors. — Joseph Henrich, The Secret of Our Success: How Culture…, 462 (+1 more)

Related

• Sacred-language communities absorbed outsiders through script mastery (similarity 0.87)

Broader Connections

• Sacred-language communities absorbed outsiders through script mastery #exemplifies (0.95) — Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities, 61