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Choose your status game wisely

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141–150 of 344 posts

Re: Choose your status game wisely

#141
post #107
post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Arnold has a really good quote about this: "A well-built physique is a status symbol. It reflects you worked hard for it; no money can buy it. You cannot borrow it, you cannot inherit it, you cannot steal it. You cannot hold onto it without constant work. It shows discipline, it shows self-respect, it shows patience, work ethic, and passion. That is why I do what I do." Really makes you think. Not a whole lot of thin…

I love the quote, but I'll offer another perspective. I had a pretty significant physical transformation over the last few years. It's the result of work I did and I feel very proud of what I've built. But! I did it after starting to work for a big tech company. The company covered weekly therapy where I ended up doing a lot of work on my relationship with food and physical activity, the company subsidized a personal…

You’re saying that having a lot of money helped you have a great body. That’s true of course but the relationship is also true in reverse. You can leverage a great body into making a lot of money. Great examples are Arnold or the Rock who became big action movie stars based on their physique. Also, of course athletes.

So I don’t think “money is the key to success in every other aspect of life” is true since the relationship is bidirectional

Re: Choose your status game wisely

#142
post #120
post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is literally my height. Repeating it, is about as effective as you'd expect, especially since my son topped six feet. Sometimes you can spot sour grapes at 50 paces.

Just saying that's a concern that just doesn't resonate with those of us at or above tall height. The preening, the studying others, all these things necessary to be a cut above the other people with small type physique are actually communicating a signal in itself by making the gesture to that degree. This is why models don't try to look or dress hot, they just are. Dressing nice is one thing but putting on the r/MF…

This reminds me of a phrase "he is smart when he applies himself". Well good for him, but there are people who are smart even when they aren't trying - and those are the smart people.

Re: Choose your status game wisely

#143
post #103
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…

> 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. That's implying playing the money game is voluntary.

There’s a monk out there somewhere that would say it is.

Re: Choose your status game wisely

#144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> My perspective is that atheism is not a lack of worship, but a lack of faith. Can you define what you mean by "faith"? * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2z4wKCsD59Q * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_4PSgFjtvI > Faith requires you suspend critical thinking on a predetermined set of claims. People like Thomas Aquinas would disagree. * https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35592365-five-proofs-of-... * https://www.goo…

Faith was always described to me as a belief in something that cannot be proven. In my experience, however, especially in terms of Christianity, faith is a belief in something that cannot be proven, and - crucially - can be disproven . To put it more clearly, faith detaches a claim from reality, and puts it into a realm above criticism. As a small example, the idea that the first human male was created directly by a…

With all respect to Mormons and LDS. It is not a flavor of Christianity

Re: Choose your status game wisely

#145
post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ah yes, the long history of religious worship definitely having no negative consequences whatsoever to individuals, their communities and wider geopolitics. No one ever has been sacrificed or convinced they just sacrifice in the name of their god. Never .

Those aren’t true believers. Either the executioners or the victims, take your pick.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_true_Scotsman

Re: Choose your status game wisely

#146
post #65

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.

You can always go hipster. 'Finance-bro' well dressed may be harder to pull off in tech. But, 'thrift store cashier' well dressed is very doable. East-Asian fashionable is also totally fine.

Re: Choose your status game wisely

#147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Faith was always described to me as a belief in something that cannot be proven. In my experience, however, especially in terms of Christianity, faith is a belief in something that cannot be proven, and - crucially - can be disproven . To put it more clearly, faith detaches a claim from reality, and puts it into a realm above criticism. As a small example, the idea that the first human male was created directly by a…

With all respect to Mormons and LDS. It is not a flavor of Christianity

I walked around with a King James Bible every time I went to church. I spent a year learning about The Old Testament in seminary, and another year learning about The New Testament. The Book of Mormon itself directly quotes the King James Bible, errors included. It absolutely is a flavor of Christianity, no matter how unappetizing you find it.

The entire story in The Book of Mormon is about Jews who fled the old world, settled the Americas, and worshiped Jesus. The only substantive divergences from Christianity that Mormonism has are additions.

But go ahead and detach my criticisms from your religious belief. After all, that is what faith is all about.

Re: Choose your status game wisely

#148

this reminded me of the "This is Water" commencement speech given by David Foster Wallace to the 2005 graduating class at Kenyon College. Key graf: "In the day-to-day trenches of adult life, there is actually no such thing as atheism. There is no such thing as not worshiping. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship. And an outstanding reason for choosing some sort of God or spiritual-type thing…

I seriously hope there's more context in the full talk because that quote alone is absolute nonsense.

Re: Choose your status game wisely

#149

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 have observed multiple times if I 'suit up' at work it's like I'm wearing a shield, it's a strange game. It has to be a good suit though, naturally enough.

Edit: this is when dealing with the business folk that is, techies don't care.

Re: Choose your status game wisely

#150

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…

> Going to X school gives you an easier chance of getting into X company. Unless the school and company are the same, it should be Y company. > Knowing X amount of people N would be a nice sounding variable here.

Nitpicking is low status.
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