The question of “why do so many things turn into aesthetic identity movements” is an interesting and important one, and, through study of this (and related) questions, it seems quite tractable to have a much better shot at creating something that produces long-term value, than by not studying those questions.
I agree that studying this is quite important. (If, of course, such an endeavor is entered into with the understanding that everyone around the investigators, and indeed the investigators themselves, have an interest in subverting the investigation. The level of epistemic vigilance required for the task is very unusually high.)
It is not obvious to me that further attempts at successfully building the object-level structure (or even defining the object-level structure) are warranted, prior to having substantially advanced our knowledge on the topic of the above question. (It seems like you may already agree with me, on this; I am not sure if I’m interpreting your comment correctly.)
I agree that studying this is quite important. (If, of course, such an endeavor is entered into with the understanding that everyone around the investigators, and indeed the investigators themselves, have an interest in subverting the investigation. The level of epistemic vigilance required for the task is very unusually high.)
It is not obvious to me that further attempts at successfully building the object-level structure (or even defining the object-level structure) are warranted, prior to having substantially advanced our knowledge on the topic of the above question. (It seems like you may already agree with me, on this; I am not sure if I’m interpreting your comment correctly.)