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Choose your status game wisely

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Re: Choose your status game wisely

#171

Post by rufus_foreman »

bruce511 wrote: post #163
williamtrask wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Overnight fame can be just as disruptive

I don't get the attraction of fame at all. Money, yes, money allows me to do what I _want_ to do, it would give me time that I otherwise have to spend working. But fame _reduces_ what I can do. Famous people can't just pop down the local for a pint (in whatever city they happen to be in that week), famous people attract paparazzi - they're harrased by strangers... Like I say, I don't get the appeal..

"I always want to say to people who want to be rich and famous: 'try being rich first'. See if that doesn't cover most of it. There's not much downside to being rich, other than paying taxes and having your relatives ask you for money. But when you become famous, you end up with a 24-hour job."

-- Bill Murray

Re: Choose your status game wisely

#172

Post by spoonjim »

ggm wrote: post #117
0des wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Yeah well I'm 5'11 and a half ..."

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.

Intraday height variation and slight changes in posture mean that your height can't really be specified to the half inch.

Re: Choose your status game wisely

#173

Post by makeitdouble »

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…

IMO the point of the article is you're playing a status game either way.

> the highest paid and smartest among us wear rainbow hats with propellers.

It works because they enjoy status from performance and accomplishments. Also suiting up often becomes a negative sign in our circles, and getting away with rough presentation can be a sign of status.

Re: Choose your status game wisely

#174

Post by ido »

fartcannon wrote: post #79
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?

I don't understand the question - what if you dress casually and bump into someone more attractive that dresses the same as you?

Re: Choose your status game wisely

#175

Post by solarmist »

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?

No way. Status is a proxy for access to resources. It has NOTHING to do with doing good by it’s nature. The doing good thing is a VERY recent phenomenon (like within living memory).

Re: Choose your status game wisely

#176

Post by exdsq »

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…

Worked with a guy who wore a suit to the office as a 2-year experience dev and he was always taken into client meetings last minute when they needed someone. Helped his career a fair bit I think!

Re: Choose your status game wisely

#177

Post by kromem »

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…

My career advice to nearly everyone starting out these days is to bring different professional interests together if they have more than one.

There's thousands of specialists in most fields, but not nearly as many generalists or people who can walk in two interconnected worlds.

Finding a niche can be very valuable to oneself and others.

One way to carve that out is by going deeper than one's peers in a specialization, but another (sometimes more often overlooked) way is bridging the gap between two different ones.

Re: Choose your status game wisely

#178

Post by exdsq »

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…

I don’t think money is as big a deal as people think, but you only realize this after you’ve made a good amount (income, not wealth) while being unhappy with your work.

Re: Choose your status game wisely

#179

Post by fartcannon »

ido wrote: post #174
fartcannon wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

I don't understand the question - what if you dress casually and bump into someone more attractive that dresses the same as you?

OP isn't trying to just dress nicely, (s)he's trying to be the best dressed. If you were competing on looks, as OP suggests they are, and you were attempting to be the Most Casually Dressed person, or something like that, then I would be interested to know what happens when you met a more attractive version of yourself, too. When your goal is vanity, but you're outdone by nature, what happens to you in your mind? Just curious.

The business card scene in American Psycho comes to mind.

Re: Choose your status game wisely

#180

Post by pcthrowaway »

brimble wrote: post #13
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?

They probably enjoy it. Being a CEO or whatever doesn't look like sitting in a cubicle all damn day. Even the latter's much better if you know you have the money to quit whenever you feel like it. That alone makes a big difference, but they also have a lot more say in how they spend their time, and do completely different stuff. Making the big calls, having people who'll go do all kinds of stuff when you ask them to,…

Don't you run the risk of having liability (e.g. neglect, oversight, mistake, or, yes, temptation, can cause you to be held responsible for a disastrous event) which might put your "net worth" at risk in ways that you wouldn't if you just retired?
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