Why do we spend money on impractical luxury items, even when we know it's irrational? Explore the 'Peacock Paradox' and discover how costly signaling, rooted in evolutionary biology, hardwires our desire for status over utility.
A figure rises from nowhere and the public loves it. Then the flaws surface, and the same public dismantles them with startling appetite. This isn't fickleness — it's three well-documented mechanisms operating in sequence, and one of them gets stronger the higher the person climbs.
