In the early 1980s, writer Tom Wolfe predicted that Silicon Valley would usually beat Boston's Route 128 in technology showdowns because Silicon Valley culture elevated the engineer and entrepreneur to highersocialstatus.
Researchers at the University of California found that over-confidence is often driven by a desire for a highersocialstatus and that pursuit of this status often resulted in more material or career rewards.
The claustrophobic pressure to derive all of our satisfactions from our existing relationships would ease, as would our desire to climb ever higher in socialstatus.