Only those already privileged can safely deviate from taste norms

Evidence

The reason for a bounded originality is that all choices must still conform to a certain sensibility and ensure congruence. “The faculty of taste,” writes the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein, “cannot create a new structure, it can only make adjustments to one that already exists. Taste loosens and tightens screws, it does not build a new piece of machinery.” Originality works best when the individual has already established mastery of a high-status sensibility and enjoys high-status privilege. Mass media disparages the invented baby names of disadvantaged communities, warning they harm children’s future prospects, while disregarding the life successes of the uniquely named Gore Vidal and McGeorge Bundy. — W. David Marx, Status and Culture, 257

Categorization

• APHORISMS: The Wittgenstein line that taste adjusts existing structures rather than building new ones is a rare, condensed piece of lasting wisdom about creativity.
• CANDY: The parallel between derided invented names of the poor and celebrated unique names of Gore Vidal and McGeorge Bundy is a tight, elevator-ready example.
• XREF: Connects to the established status-and-sensibility framework from the book’s earlier chapters on how taste reproduces hierarchy. — connects to: An individual tastemaker can infiltrate and collapse remaining status boundaries from within — W. David Marx, Blank Space: A Cultural History of the…, 360; Achieving high-status taste requires deep knowledge, congruence, and bounded originality — W. David Marx, Status and Culture: How Our Desire for…, 251

Broader Connections

• Achieving high-status taste requires deep knowledge, congruence, and bounded originality #qualifies (0.76) — W. David Marx, Status and Culture, 251
• An individual tastemaker can infiltrate and collapse remaining status boundaries from within #complicates (0.75) — W. David Marx, Blank Space, 360