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Choose your status game wisely

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Re: Choose your status game wisely

#281

Post by klyrs »

darkerside wrote: post #213
klyrs wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bain Capitol is a classic example. They bought companies, sold off their assets, wrote themselves huge bonuses, bankrupted the companies, and wrote them off as losses to avoid paying taxes on any of the above. They made their money by destroying value, not providing any. And then there's multigenerational wealth. Rich brats don't provide intrinsic value, but they're born rich. They don't get that way by providing val…

I remember the hysteria about vulture capitalism. Even vultures play a valuable role in their ecosystem. Companies don't sell themselves to a private equity shop because they are thriving and healthy. If they were more valuable in parts than their sum, it says something about the company. Can't say much about the hypothetical wealth stealing since it's completely hypothetical.

"It says something about the company" might be a moral salve in your eyes, but you have not established that they provide value to anybody but themselves. Specifically: how does pilfering pension funds, and then declaring bankruptcy provide "value" in any meaningful sense? It provides greater wealth to the already filthy-rich and destroys the considerable investment that life-long workers have earned, sending those who would be retiring comfortably into poverty -- which then taxes the public support systems. A huge negative for hundreds or thousands of people, for what? A marginal increase in wealth for the already wealthy. Where's the value?

Re: Choose your status game wisely

#282

Post by staindk »

dr_dshiv wrote: post #187
x3iv130f wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Being well dressed isn't about dressing in fancy or expensive clothes; It's about looking good in clothes.

So difficult. Used to be easy. Stopped caring. Want to care. But black tshirts and air force ones are just so easy.

As long as they fit well you're probably doing perfectly fine.

Re: Choose your status game wisely

#283

Post by zdbrandon »

sanderjd wrote: post #264
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…

How did you get started? I've never been able to figure out how to break into wearing nice clothes that mesh well with my age. I have tried the typical fashion-in-a-box things, but the clothes always seem (to me) to skew too young. I don't want to be a well-dressed college kid or entry-level professional...

Find a well dressed celebrity your age, and mimic their style.

Re: Choose your status game wisely

#284

Post by andreilys »

_bfhp wrote: post #267
andreilys wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

You caught me, I'm one of those blank slate extremists who say harmful and unreasonable things like "Individual humans are capable of overcoming biological tendencies." Hard to argue though that eugenics, forced sterilization, biological justification for slavery pale in comparison to the damage of various examples you've detailed

Communism is based on a blank slatist definition of humans and has led to millions being suppressed, starved, slaughtered, or ethnically cleansed.

Re: Choose your status game wisely

#285

Post by kyawzazaw »

dr_dshiv wrote: post #187
x3iv130f wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Being well dressed isn't about dressing in fancy or expensive clothes; It's about looking good in clothes.

So difficult. Used to be easy. Stopped caring. Want to care. But black tshirts and air force ones are just so easy.

If you are wealthy enough, you can hire a personal stylist. Outsource that work.

Re: Choose your status game wisely

#286

Post by kyawzazaw »

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…

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

Are you sure about this though? It seems like you are referring to a bunch of Software Engineers. That's nowhere near wealthiest.

Re: Choose your status game wisely

#287

Post by zdbrandon »

Tao331 wrote: post #246

By the end I wasn't convinced why I should be playing these games. What's status for? Is it going to make you happy? Alan Watts: > We thought of life by analogy with a journey, a pilgrimage, which had a serious purpose at the end, and the thing was to get to that end, success or whatever it is, maybe heaven after you’re dead. But we missed the point the whole way along. It was a musical thing and you were supposed to…

My takeaway (not necessarily from the article, but from pondering on it) is that status is a lure. It has a certain gravity, and pulls others toward you who are playing in that same specific status game. It makes people want to be around you. Yes, you will feel this at first. So my next question was, why would I want people around me for my status?

I think then, the trick is to use this lure to actually make more friends with people you wouldn’t otherwise have met. No longer because of your status, but because of all the qualities of true friendship (spending time together, self-disclosure, support in times of need, etc).

With that you may lead a more fulfilling life. Would this be possible completely ignoring status? Is it even possible to completely ignore status? (Not just pretending not to play the game, but actually never thinking of how you’re perceived by others.)

I guess my answer is, status == gravity. Gravity leads to more connections. Connections to friends if you work at it. Friends to a better life.

Re: Choose your status game wisely

#288

Post by SubuSS »

klyrs wrote: post #160
darkerside wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People make money by providing value to other people. The people who provide the most perceived value have the most money. It is a signifier of status whether you like it or not. Most people who make money are providing a service to many people, or to someone else with a lot of money (who therefore provided value previously). Care to provide a counterexample?

Bain Capitol is a classic example. They bought companies, sold off their assets, wrote themselves huge bonuses, bankrupted the companies, and wrote them off as losses to avoid paying taxes on any of the above. They made their money by destroying value, not providing any. And then there's multigenerational wealth. Rich brats don't provide intrinsic value, but they're born rich. They don't get that way by providing val…

Why rule out the rich kids so glibly?

Wealth preservation is something that doesn’t get talked about - imo this is what the rich kids should be schooled in assuming they aren’t good enough to multiply their wealth like Elon. They keep it together for a future generation to take advantage of.

Re: Choose your status game wisely

#289

Post by JamesBarney »

pavas wrote: post #204
JamesBarney wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I view the reliance upon the idea of status as a low-status activity. Low status or high status only emanate when you're playing the status game, but it's not a game that you necessarily need to play. And if you're not playing the game, low-status or high-status doesn't matter; they're just different colors. Nothing wrong with playing the game either.

Status is about what people think about you, with a special focus on what other people think other people think about you.

And many things people want in life are dependent on what others think of them.

If you're looking for a promotion what your boss thinks about you and how others will perceive your promotion matters, when you're looking to raise money, looking for a co-founder, convincing your co-founders you would be the best CEO, convincing a girl she should come hang out at your table and talk to you.

Status matters, and choosing not to play means giving up a lot.

Re: Choose your status game wisely

#290

Post by gretch »

diatone wrote: post #162
gretch wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 relat…

Nitpick: it’s not as straightforward to leverage a great body towards money as it is to leverage money towards a great body. Arnold and Dwayne Johnson are outliers. Many athletes struggle financially. For other reasons I agree with your end point in that money isn’t strictly necessary for success everywhere else, but please don’t suggest that money isn’t uniquely useful when put to the task.

> don’t suggest that money isn’t uniquely useful when put to the task

I'm going to be completely honest with you - I just don't believe this, which was the point I was trying to make

I think you are someone who is holding a hammer, and is very skilled at using it, and thus everything looks like a nail to you.

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