Why Do People Fantasize About Higher Status?

David Geary says people fantasize about higher status because gaining status historically would have reduced mortality risks for them and for their children. The default mode network generates a mental simulation of something going on in the world. On a quiet Saturday, with nothing intense on the mind, the network brings daydreams, usually self-referential images about what matters to the person. Better connections between the front and the back of the brain let people generate images on their own.

Instead of only reliving past events, the system can generate a future state, such as where someone wants to be five years from now. In his classes, a person could fantasize about being homeless, with no rent and no gas bill. People do not. They fantasize about higher status, a better job, a bigger house, luxury food, and life in a high-status environment.

The fantasies are about things that would raise social status. Gaining them would have lowered mortality risks for the person and for their children. People end up with a model of where they want to be years ahead.