Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Choose your status game wisely

ofdollarsanddata.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

61–70 of 344 posts

Re: Choose your status game wisely

#61

Post by pdonis »

sacrosancty wrote: post #37
f0e4c2f7 wrote: post #32

Sometimes you see articles like this that insist that you have to play a status game of some kind etc etc. The hacker in me sees that as even more reason to look for examples of ways alleviate myself of such nonsense. If you read books like "Surely you're joking Mr. Feynman" you run across stories of him playing with Status games and poking fun at them. Though I'm sure one could argue Feynman had status games he play…

Status usually represents having done some social good. The more good you do, the higher your status. If you look at it as a measure of how much good a person has done, then it might not seem so contemptable. Who did more good for more people - a hermit or Bill Gates?

> Status usually represents having done some social good.

For whatever value of "good" applies in that particular social network, yes. But that value of "good" might not be anything we would call "good" in ordinary language.

For example, Bill Gates does have high status, but he has it because he is rich, not because of the particular things he did that made him rich. Those things happened to be reasonably beneficial (how much so depends on your opinion of Windows and Microsoft, and opinions on that can...vary), but many other rich people got that way by doing things that were not. Yet they still get status according to their wealth.

Re: Choose your status game wisely

#62

Post by zdragnar »

balaji1 wrote: post #49
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.

What do you wish you had more of in terms of status? Or where you wish you had followed the crowd?

Not my personal experience, but that of some people I have known:

Accruing status typically also means accruing wealth and / or connections. At any point in time, you have options. You might have a legacy of influence you have spread.

It is easier to focus and work harder when you are younger. Getting a new career off the ground when you have kids is easier if you've built up a nest egg, which is easier if you've moved up the chain early.

Marching to your own drum, deviating from society's expectations might leave you with a legacy of "he went to various places, looked at the things there, and made short term friends along the way" can, at a certain point in your life, feel quite unfulfilling. You end up having passed up the opportunities to put away for the future, or failed to establish a longer term network.

At the end of the day, there are both extremes, and everything in-between, and then some more. Every choice comes with trade-offs.

Re: Choose your status game wisely

#63

Post by blymphony »

I'm surprised people in this thread are so opposed to trying to gain status. It took me too long to realize, but status, like money, is just a tool at your disposal in society.

You can be too obsessed with status, just like you can be too obsessed with money, and use them for the "wrong" reasons.

But there are things money lets you do that you couldn't do otherwise, like buying a home for your family or bootstrapping a company.

For status, it's the same. Going to X school gives you an easier chance of getting into X company. Knowing X amount of people gives you more opportunities to meet other well-connected people, allowing you to gain more diversified interactions and/or spread your own influence. Having a trustworthy reputation gives people a reason to give you a minute of their time, and sometimes that first impression is all you need to start a relationship or get funding for your company.

Finally, there are things that status gives you that all the money in the world won't.

Re: Choose your status game wisely

#64

Post by octoberfranklin »

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.

It also conveys a benefit to those of low status.

High-status individuals' job is to produce stability.

Read Chimpanzee Politics; it will completely change the way you see human interaction and power.

Re: Choose your status game wisely

#65

Post by epgui »

angarg12 wrote: post #59

Not sure how this will sit with the HN crowd, but a couple of years back I got into menswear, and I derive some pleasure from being the "best dressed guy" at the office. Beyond personal opinions on that particular hobby, I can confirm first hand that living at the intersection of two or more personas (e.g. a programmer that dresses well) brings a peculiar sense of joy. I might no have much status in either of those c…

I actually feel pressure to dress down in my role as a SWE: hoodies and jeans seem like the norm, and forget about wearing a suit (lol!) or even a dress shirt.

I've found black/grey turtlenecks to be a nice middle ground, and apart from the occasional "one more thing" (Steve Jobs) or Elizabeth Holmes comment, those tend to work well.

Re: Choose your status game wisely

#66

Post by Animats »

One can sometime make quite a bit of money by running status games for profit. Here's the pitch deck for Bored Ape Yacht Club.[1] This is for investors, and they are very clear about how they are exploiting their customers.

Rolex is in that business. Rolex watches cost 5x what they cost in the 1960s, adjusted for inflation. A CEO of Rolex, Andre Heiniger, "We are not in the watch business. We are in the luxury business." There was a flap a few years ago when someone found fake Rolexes with authentic movements. Turns out the mechanics were outsourced until 2004.

[1] https://twitter.com/LeonidasNFT/status/1505058932758360064

Re: Choose your status game wisely

#67

Post by daniel-cussen »

elvis10ten wrote: post #34
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 always find that people who claim that they or a geography have fewer/no status sports are only referring to the “popular” games. There is always an alternative game. People in Europe claim it. I have lived in Africa, Europe, US and the Middle East. The only difference I saw is the type of games people generally engage in. Geeks claim it, because they don’t engage in the typical meat world status game. But again, w…

elvis10ten, you're dead on the money! You are playing it with your comment, and likewise mysameself with mine.

And if none of the games are for you, dear reader, perhaps invent your own game.

Re: Choose your status game wisely

#68

Post by JamesBarney »

swagasaurus-rex wrote: post #16

Who is more cool? Somebody who makes it clear they're wealthy or well connected or attractive or smart or etc... Or somebody who is upbeat and friendly with no desire to display anything about themselves? There's a minority of people who go by their own compass. The things that gratify status seekers don't do it for them. That's not to say they don't have needs. They need friends, stimulation, hobbies, achievements.…

Seeking status is a low status activity. A high status activity it to seem like you don't care about what other people think about you.

People I know who actually go by their own compass are seen as weird and don't have much status.

People I know who have cultivated a person of someone who goes by their own compass do tend to have a lot of status.

Re: Choose your status game wisely

#69

Post by ZYinMD »

It's a sad truth but for most of us, when it comes to "decide which status game to play", you're simply aiming for money no matter what you choose. Money is the overarching metric that already incorporates everything else. The "weightlifting status" or the "content creator status" mentioned in the article are just money status in disguise.

Ask yourself: if you won a big lottery tomorrow, would you still keep doing what you do today? If the answer is no, then you've been playing the money game all along.

Re: Choose your status game wisely

#70

Post by andreilys »

_bfhp wrote: post #26
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.

Blank slatism and the ignorance of human nature has done far more harm for humans than those who acknowledge that our brains haven’t evolved much since our days as foraging tribes.
Post reply on HN