> As you may recall, Bourdieu thinks we acquire tastes based on our life trajectories, and this helps perpetuate class. Upper-class people get access to upper-class culture early in life, which helps them appreciate upper-class stuff, fit in with upper-class people, do well in life, and repeat the cycle with the next generation.
This may apply to acquired tastes where causality can be from a desire to fit into group(s). Devoid of caring what others think there are personal tastes such as flavor likes/dislikes which can be arbitrarily distributed at a very early age. I recognized this when I found out BMW drivers are considered to be a-holes and statistically likely. I didn't stop liking their form/function but may not own one (unless it's a small convertible, they're for fun-loving people).
BMW drivers is such an old trope maybe from 90s or early 2000s, its almost 2024 so these days its mostly Tesla drivers (or expensive Mercedes for some reason, at least around here).
Here in Switzerland they distinctly fall into 2 categories - either driving too slowly for whatever reason, I presume for saving battery, so that on every drive hundreds of drivers have to overtake them since they become an obstacle that even trucks take over. Or classical tailgating, aggressive drive, way too quick acceleration compared to rest of participants, so they keep popping up in places folks don't expect them.
RE: Teslas - their autopilot (or FSD for those that have it) is one of the best features on the car, but the top speed is capped according to internal logic.
Outside the US, this internal logic can often be wrong / lower than what a human driver would use. Some examples include always following time-limited speed limits (e.g. using "school hours only" limit during the weekend) and overly reducing speed due to limited visibility in fog.
Funny enough, none of these issues pop up in California.
As someone who travels a fair bit in Europe, I would say the BMW trope is very much alive and kicking. I would say it's mostly in specific subcultures though.
This may apply to acquired tastes where causality can be from a desire to fit into group(s). Devoid of caring what others think there are personal tastes such as flavor likes/dislikes which can be arbitrarily distributed at a very early age. I recognized this when I found out BMW drivers are considered to be a-holes and statistically likely. I didn't stop liking their form/function but may not own one (unless it's a small convertible, they're for fun-loving people).