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Choose your status game wisely

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Re: Choose your status game wisely

#71

Post by rubidium »

ZYinMD wrote: post #69

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 wh…

And then suffer a life on the hedonic treadmill dying smug and somehow all alone.

Re: Choose your status game wisely

#72

Post by hallway_monitor »

pdonis wrote: post #61
sacrosancty wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I think maybe GP was talking about what Bill Gates chose to do with his money and influence once he had them. In terms of the number of lives saved and improved, Bill Gates has had more impact than most of us could ever hope to.

Re: Choose your status game wisely

#73

Post by williamtrask »

ZYinMD wrote: post #69

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 wh…

Overnight fame can be just as disruptive

Re: Choose your status game wisely

#74

Post by nine_zeros »

ZYinMD wrote: post #69

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 wh…

> Ask your self: 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.

It doesn't end there. For people who really want the monetary status, there is a point where chasing more money doesn't cut it. They change their status game to something else at that point, say fame and connections with an elite group of people e.g. selective cliques or investing in a football team.

Re: Choose your status game wisely

#75

Post by hallway_monitor »

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…

I can't believe I never thought about this. You don't have any drudgery and it doesn't really matter if you lose your job so your work is your leisure time. You're just playing.

Okay, time to get rich.

Re: Choose your status game wisely

#76

Post by hallway_monitor »

_def wrote: post #46

Thinking about this stuff seems like a waste of time to me. If you think status makes you happy, I assume there are still some things you need to figure out for yourself. But maybe it's the other way around, who knows. Still, I don't care. :)

I think part of the point is that you actually do care and you need to care and this is healthy. For instance, if you dressed in dirty clothes and didn't take care of yourself that would be very low status. Anyone coming in contact with you would smell your low status immediately and treat you accordingly. So, if you bathe, shave, and wear clean clothes then you are already playing the status game. And that's great!

Re: Choose your status game wisely

#77

Post by [deleted] »

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…

[deleted]

Re: Choose your status game wisely

#78

Post by thenerdhead »

I learned a bit about status when doing comedy improv. I think status in theory can be seen as a gradient and shift to one extreme at any time.

Keith Johnstone is famous for his thoughts on status in his book, but here’s a snippet that complements the article:

https://www.respect4acting.com/status1.html

Re: Choose your status game wisely

#79

Post by fartcannon »

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…

What do you do when you bump into an equally well dressed person who just happens to be more physically attractive than you?

Re: Choose your status game wisely

#80

Post by pdonis »

hallway_monitor wrote: post #72
pdonis wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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…

I think maybe GP was talking about what Bill Gates chose to do with his money and influence once he had them. In terms of the number of lives saved and improved, Bill Gates has had more impact than most of us could ever hope to.

> In terms of the number of lives saved and improved

But Bill Gates did that after he already had status. He didn't gain status by doing that.

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