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Choose your status game wisely

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Re: Choose your status game wisely

#21

Post by gigaflop »

brimble wrote: post #15
fdgsdfogijq wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was going to say this. It's fun when you are that high up.

It's also the case that someone with quite a bit of money doesn't have as much non-work work to do. If you can afford to pay someone to do: all shopping (that you don't enjoy doing), all cooking (ditto), all cleaning (doing the laundry including putting it away, doing the dishes, cleaning your house, cleaning your car[s]), to drive you around so that time's not lost, et c., that recovers a ton of time. You can put qu…

Even with work-from-home, I can see how more money == more better in life.

My dream home would need space for a home gym, workshop, and small office. Having a home, a home big enough for all of that, and then getting all of that would not be cheap, but it would mean dead-simple access to things I need and things that make me happy and fulfilled, which would mean more time spent fulfilling myself.

Re: Choose your status game wisely

#22

Post by insickness »

ambicapter wrote: post #7

> instability is hell for high status individuals I feel like this explains a lot about how power structures fight so hard to stay in power--they're biologically wired to suffer more when they lose out than those at the bottom. This is both something "everyone knows" and refreshing to finally see put in print.

Beyond that, the gratification from accomplishing something is short-lived. If your last book sold a million copies and your new book only sells 500k, you may feel like a failure even though 500k is a lot of books. In some ways, success only adds to the pressure to keep succeeding. This isn't to say you shouldn't try to succeed, but it certainly explains why so many famous or successful people deal with problems like depression and drug addiction.

Re: Choose your status game wisely

#23

Post by sacrosancty »

mherdeg wrote: post #2

I always wonder why folks with 9-figure net worth (or high 8) keep doing any job at all. People do not get very many quality-adjusted life years -- why would you spend 8+ hours per day doing CEO work when you could spend that time with family and friends?

I hear this often. How about why do people in countries with good social welfare bother to work at all? Just sit in your free house eating your free food until you die of old age. Easiest life ever! Obviously, the answer is that people get satisfaction from working beyond simply what they can spend the money on.

Re: Choose your status game wisely

#24

Post by quinnjh »

smitty1e wrote: post #11
scandox wrote: post #3

> I know some of you will say “Just ignore the status game altogether,” but this is easier said than done. Like many other animals, we are biologically wired to respond to status. Ignorance is not the way out. It's not ignorance to overcome our biology. It is possible to control our desire for status and to live better lives and be happier as a result. Also different cultures are much more competitive about status: A…

Status is a temporal, worldly thing. Among the better ways to "win" this game is to seek status in the metaphysical. In a way, this is "winning" through "not playing". By some measures, I'm doing OK at it, if money is the scoring basis. OTOH, I've lived with the same house/car/wardrobe for a couple of decades. Do these oligarchs/celebrities really have more joy than I? Maybe.

Is this the same logic as religiously shunning wealth for returns in the afterlife/spiritual realm? Maybe this is how you counter the maybe?

Re: Choose your status game wisely

#25

Post by gigaflop »

patches11 wrote: post #9
mherdeg wrote: post #2

I always wonder why folks with 9-figure net worth (or high 8) keep doing any job at all. People do not get very many quality-adjusted life years -- why would you spend 8+ hours per day doing CEO work when you could spend that time with family and friends?

The article offers some potential explanations. As they achieve more status their peer group changes and they desire more status relative to their new group. They are looking for that huge exit or massive success. Alternatively you just don't see the people who retire and spend time with family and friends. They don't post here, they don't have blogs, they don't have articles posted about them. They are just living l…

> the people who retire and spend time with family and friends

That's the ideal way to go, imo. I'm trying to slowly figure out what I need to live that kind of life, so that I can become some sort of cyberpunk mountain man when I reach financial independence. Identify what makes me happy, what I need for those happiness-generating activities, etc, and make sure that I'm set up to enjoy myself.

Re: Choose your status game wisely

#26

Post by _bfhp »

scandox wrote: post #3

> I know some of you will say “Just ignore the status game altogether,” but this is easier said than done. Like many other animals, we are biologically wired to respond to status. Ignorance is not the way out. It's not ignorance to overcome our biology. It is possible to control our desire for status and to live better lives and be happier as a result. Also different cultures are much more competitive about status: A…

I have come to read any statement like "we are biologically wired to X" as a declaration of nihilism and misanthropy. Wired is what a light bulb is to a switch. Individual humans are complex, beautiful and capable of overcoming pretty much anything, including biological tendencies.

Re: Choose your status game wisely

#27

Post by yojo »

mherdeg wrote: post #2

I always wonder why folks with 9-figure net worth (or high 8) keep doing any job at all. People do not get very many quality-adjusted life years -- why would you spend 8+ hours per day doing CEO work when you could spend that time with family and friends?

I’ve always figured it was some combination of selection and survivorship bias.

Selection because only workaholics or super-strivers generally make it to that level.

Survivorship because the only ones you see working are by definition the ones that didn’t quit. It is possible that many people who made that kind of money have quit and are just being quiet about it.

Re: Choose your status game wisely

#28

Post by awgm »

LAC-Tech wrote: post #19

Honestly I wish I had paid a bit more attention to status in my life. Our culture tells you don't need to follow the crowd or play the game and you can march to the beat of your own drum. But honestly, that's overrated.

Same with going along with the crowd

Re: Choose your status game wisely

#29

Post by insickness »

scandox wrote: post #3

> I know some of you will say “Just ignore the status game altogether,” but this is easier said than done. Like many other animals, we are biologically wired to respond to status. Ignorance is not the way out. It's not ignorance to overcome our biology. It is possible to control our desire for status and to live better lives and be happier as a result. Also different cultures are much more competitive about status: A…

> It is possible to control our desire for status

This is a narrow view of status. In many ways, any type of validation you get from working with others can be considered status. Most animals achieve status through physical aggression, while humans (and chimps) achieve status through cooperation and contributing to the group. Our minds are wired to get pleasure from working with others and being validated and appreciated for our work. That is part of status. If you enjoy doing the work you do and it makes you happy, that's because your brain is wired for status. Nothing wrong with it. There are of course negative sides of status like conspicuous consumption, social media addiction, etc. But just because you learn to avoid the pitfalls of status doesn't mean you aren't playing the game.

Re: Choose your status game wisely

#30

Post by fullshark »

LAC-Tech wrote: post #19

Honestly I wish I had paid a bit more attention to status in my life. Our culture tells you don't need to follow the crowd or play the game and you can march to the beat of your own drum. But honestly, that's overrated.

Everyone realizes their world view as an adolescent was incomplete as they get older, doesn't matter if it’s "status doesn't matter personal/relationship happiness is all that matters" or "accruing status is crucial for personal/relationship success and therefore happiness" or whatever. They are all overly simplified.
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