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Be wary of imitating high-status people who can afford to countersignal

robkhenderson.substack.com

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Re: Be wary of imitating high-status people who can afford to countersignal

#351

Post by varjag »

swayvil wrote: post #200
browningstreet wrote: post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I worked for a wealthy man. I remember two stories among many: He once told me he was upgrading the doorknobs and hinges in this house. The bill just for those items came to $45K. We were both getting coffee in the office once, and he looked towards me and ask, “My socks cost more than everything you’re wearing.” And he liked me.

I have a couple clients like that. 40k on this, 25k on that. Doinky little overpriced home-improvement geegaws. And I'm thinking, "I could pay off my credit cards and take a year off for my own serious projects, for what you're spending to upgrade your stupid crown molding".

Two nouveau riches run into each other shopping on the Fifth.

- Look at this, got me this tie for $1000

- Hah what a dummy you are, they sell them for 1200 two blocks away!

Re: Be wary of imitating high-status people who can afford to countersignal

#352

Post by mrexroad »

steveBK123 wrote: post #218
PaulHoule wrote: post #210

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am into collecting slightly obsolete audio gear, I've spent maybe $600 on the hobby in the last six months. I know some people would think $120 is a lot for a minidisc player since you can get a flash player for so much less. Other people would think it's a trivial amount of money. Like all these things it comes in multiple scales: back in the day there were people who would spend 50x that on audio gear (there are…

I love & miss minidiscs :-D

I’ve been tempted to dig out my minidisc recording deck and player from storage, and use them for to add a bit of friction for more constrained listening. I’m probably projecting other problems onto music streaming services, but I often shut down with the endless choices and frustratingly flippant auto-generated playlists. Of course I can, and do, curate playlists for specific moods and tasks, but I also seem to lack self-control these days to not jump to another music tangent without getting lost from my original intent.

The nostalgia/quaintness of burning/updating a dozen or so minidiscs seems like an “fun”enough construct to build a deliberate ritual that outweighs the friction—similar to friction of making a pour over coffee helps force a nice 10min break and tends to limit number of cups/day to something reasonable. Either way, just more of a thought exercise at the moment.

Re: Be wary of imitating high-status people who can afford to countersignal

#353

Post by bradlys »

deanmoriarty wrote: post #259

This kind of signaling is the reason why I ended up voluntarily with no friends in my mid 30s, down from a pretty active social life in my 20s knowing hundreds of people and regularly hanging out with many dozens, mostly in the Bay Area but also in Europe, where I’m originally from. As people get older, I noticed they just can’t stop flashing how successful they are, how they can afford this or that, and suddenly eve…

Confused on your last point. Joining a good pre IPO company is generally a good idea. The difficult part is to find the good company, IMO.

Look at how many were considered good but still haven’t gone public.

Re: Be wary of imitating high-status people who can afford to countersignal

#354

Post by LAC-Tech »

coffeebeqn wrote: post #304
LAC-Tech wrote: post #299

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which is a shame. Someone wearing business casual is so much more pleasant to the eye than typical sloppy hacker wear. Especially once you start getting older and flabbier.

Doesn’t business causal mean like slacks and a lame tucked in pastel polo shirt? I think both a suit and hacker wear are more interesting

I think it's more like slacks and a button up. Polo shirts are super casual.

Re: Be wary of imitating high-status people who can afford to countersignal

#355

Post by mozman »

moneywoes wrote: post #273
mozman wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I bought a $400 fake rolex. Aside from the glass not being sapphire you cannot tell the difference visually

From whereabouts?

Look for fake watch forums and their trusted vendor list. That’s how I found the seller I bought from.

Took 4 weeks to arrive direct from China

Re: Be wary of imitating high-status people who can afford to countersignal

#356

Post by maigret »

bri3d wrote: post #284
moneywoes wrote: post #270

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where can one get those similar Rolex’s? For science

The search term you want is just "Replica." RWI, RWG, RepTime on Reddit, and other private forums will analyze the quality and details of these clones in ridiculous detail. They also have reviews of each reseller and each factory. I don't even own any fake watches at this point and I've found these forums highly addictive/interesting - honestly, the average skill/knowledge level is quite high compared to most "watch…

Thanks for the hints. About the replicas: Yes but usually you’ll find a few challenges with those. First, pure replicas are illegal, so what you can find legally are called hommages with another logo. That doesn’t make them worst by itself, but here are the drawbacks:

First the maintenance. What is the probability those watches will still be serviceable in 50 years? I own a watch that’s more than 50 years and wear it regularly because it is still maintained by the company who made it.

Second the value holding. Sure you can sink your money in any gear. The special value of great mechanical watches is that they maintain their used value well on the second hand market for decades. An hommage will have little reputation of its own to maintain.

Of course this is all subject to special cases, but, etc because the watch world is very complex. For example many brands copy each other, some replica brand make great quality, and some great brands barely hold their value (which is a good thing for passionate collectors).

No doubt there is a great skilled and passionate community around reproduction, like in music or art. To build a replica you need way more skill than the average watch enthusiast. They rarely outskill the examples they copy still.

Re: Be wary of imitating high-status people who can afford to countersignal

#357

Post by moonchrome »

Tarq0n wrote: post #261
helen___keller wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> wearing a $2k Rolex or driving a $70k BMW is frowned upon. But instead they have eccentric "hobbies" requiring $10ks of of equipment, inclusive of "needing" $10k viking stove/range, and $10k subzero fridge/freezer in your kitchen because you are a "foodie" […] Isn’t this conflating status signal with lifestyle? The wealthy have always enjoyed expensive lifestyles and hobbies. In and of itself, expensive hobby equip…

A sociologist would tell you that there is no such thing as a lifestyle which isn't a performance of one's status.

Saying more about their frameworks/models/worldview than reality.

Re: Be wary of imitating high-status people who can afford to countersignal

#358

Post by TaylorAlexander »

steveBK123 wrote: post #47

"An example from Ogilvy Vice Chairman Rory Sutherland: If you’re a top executive, turning up to work on a bicycle is a high-status activity because it was a choice and not a necessity. But if you work at Pizza Hut, turning up on a bike means you can’t afford a car." This tidbit reminds me of a similar anecdote (that my experience aligns with) re: the modern upper class that wearing a $2k Rolex or driving a $70k BMW i…

When I worked at Google I always had the distinct feeling that my hard work was paying for some manager’s $500k home renovation. I’m way more interested in working hard to help people who really need it, and I’m glad I’m not working at a place like that anymore.

Re: Be wary of imitating high-status people who can afford to countersignal

#359

Post by SoftTalker »

steveBK123 wrote: post #301
pclmulqdq wrote: post #274

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think there's a bit of an idea now that you should be expressing yourself with your money, not expressing society's ideas. Around cars and watches, this creates a little bit of a "dead zone" for prestigious professionals. For example, if you aren't showing up in a $200k Maserati, your car had better be under $50k (maybe $70k with inflation). Only posers who aren't really into cars but want to show off their wealth…

Yes this is very well put, you really hit the nail on the head here on the sort of reverse bell curve of signaling.. For the very wealthy.. If you show enough interest in something to make signaling purchases, it's expected to be "up to snuff" .. this can mean very very high expense or high esotericness. So that might mean a $200k sports car, or it might mean some uncommon though inexpensive limited production vintag…

Very senior/wealthy people can get away with whatever they want. It's why Zuckerberg can look like a total slob at Facebook (notice he still wore a suit while testifying to Congress though).

If a senior executive wore a $200 suit to work, nobody would say a word.

Re: Be wary of imitating high-status people who can afford to countersignal

#360

Post by teg4n_ »

pclmulqdq wrote: post #318
Gordonjcp wrote: post #285

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> For ~$70k you used to be able to get a Model S, which now STARTS at $105k. Easily configurable into the $130-160k range now.. insane. For a shit car with the interior fit and finish of a poverty-spec Skoda, and all the important controls replaced with a bloody great iPad that blinds you at night. Oh, and it's from an obscenely "techbro" company. Am I the only one not impressed in any sense by Teslas?

No, you're not alone, but they still have a cachet in a certain crowd (the "green" and "forward-thinking" types love them). Hopefully it goes away soon.

i dunno my parents fit in that category and told me they will not consider a Tesla as long as it’s associated with Musk. EVs of other companies are really quite nice these days so i don’t think they are losing anything. Right now that have a new plugin hybrid RAV4.
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