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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

#621

Post by smolder »

vineyardmike wrote: post #451
cafard wrote: post #443

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or maybe by their 40s-60s they have lost all interest in what 25yos, tee-shirted or not, think about their attire. They have seen the fashion wheel spin more than once, and are no longer compelled by it. (Source: upper 60s, go into the office mostly because a) it's not far, b) my office setup is a bit better, c) I don't want to wake my wife with Zoom calls. I do have some tailored shirts but seldom wear them.)

> maybe by their 40s-60s they have lost all interest in what 25yos Its not about the fashion, its about looking put together. Its signaling that you care. Of course, there's the article which says that people who made it can stop signaling, so maybe that's you.

There are a lot of people who think signalling you care [about fashion, to be clear] is somehow essential, and that to not care about fashion is to show you don't care about life, or about yourself...

Sorry, no. There's nothing wrong with me for not putting effort into what aesthetic "signals" I'm sending, because there is no true signal. It's noise. If someone's unclean, that's one thing, because cleanliness matters to health. Fashion does not.

Arguments that fashion matters are all circular, which tells you something. (It matters because people think it matters, and is therefore worth taking seriously!)

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

#622

Post by tptacek »

mrguyorama wrote: post #619
tptacek wrote: post #552

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have rings in both my ears and sleeve tattoos on both arms. What does that say about me?

What I've learned from my girlfriend is that you enjoy having a needle put in you, especially if it's large enough to feel.

Hmm. No. It's definitely not that.

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

#623

Post by tedunangst »

tptacek wrote: post #620
rayiner wrote: post #617

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Quoted post unavailable.

It's good to feel like I'm a part of something larger than myself.

This is how we dismantle western civilization. Brick by brick.

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

#624

Post by 7speter »

namaria wrote: post #590
tptacek wrote: post #552

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have rings in both my ears and sleeve tattoos on both arms. What does that say about me?

Twenty years ago those would signal strongly that you don't depend on or respect social conventions. Now, that you have a lot of disposable income.

Twenty years ago there was a law and order episode where someone said that even school teachers got tattoos then :)

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

#625

Post by tptacek »

tedunangst wrote: post #623
tptacek wrote: post #620

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's good to feel like I'm a part of something larger than myself.

This is how we dismantle western civilization. Brick by brick.

I'll man the barricades to defend my Castlevania raven from the forces of societal stability.

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

#626

Post by idlewords »

tptacek wrote: post #552
rayiner wrote: post #536

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But the point is everyone looks like they’re trying to conform to the dress code. Much better than America, where just when you think it’s hit bottom, people plumb the depths further. (Most recently, by way of hair, tattoos, earrings on men, etc.)

I have rings in both my ears and sleeve tattoos on both arms. What does that say about me?

"I work in IT"

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

#628

Post by lmm »

matwood wrote: post #611
lmm wrote: post #562

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The other one is that rich people don't think about money, which is bullshit. It's all they think about, even if they don't show it. Nonsense; almost the defining characteristic of being rich is that you don't need to think about money; if you need some it's there.

IMO, you fell into the trap. At least IME, people with money are always thinking about making more money. Obviously they aren't thinking about how to pay for food, but they are thinking about what to invest in, how their investments are doing, what else can they buy with the money that will make more money.

Not my experience at all. For a lot of people with money, that would be some combination of exhausting and boring. Why bother?

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

#629

Post by WalterBright »

fbdab103 wrote: post #545
WalterBright wrote: post #376

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Think of it like a machine shop. Expensive tools work way, way better than cheap ones. I also have a restaurant grade toaster. It costs quite a bit more than the usual toasters do. But the usual ones would always break after a year or two. The restaurant toaster makes better toast, and has worked fine for 25 years now. It was actually cheaper to get the restaurant grade one over the long haul.

What are you doing to your toasters? My toaster had a good 10+ year run before I ultimately gave it away because I purchased a toaster oven. This was a Target/Walmart unremarkable kit that must surely have cost <$40, most likely something around $20 because I was a broke college kid.

They would just quit. Like my drip coffee maker. The heating element or the switch always breaks after a couple years. It's hard to buy an expensive one, as those always come with lots of buttons and a manual. I just want one that I put the coffee and water in and turn it on.

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

#630

Post by justusw »

BiteCode_dev wrote: post #129

In the same vein: - Don't hide your mistakes - Show that you are vulnerable - Be yourself Are all things that work best when you are (contextually) high-status. Yet we are still culturally promoting them as the things we should all strive for in any situation. However, it's way easier to be open about my professional mistakes now that I'm recognized by my peers and that I don't do too many of them. It's simple to exp…

Agreed. Admitting mistakes and showing vulnerability works best when you have nothing to lose, not because you have nothing but because you are untouchable. A good example would be a CEO who neither takes a pay cut nor resigns after laying off 20 % of their workforce. It is usually accompanied by a press release saying that they have seen the errors in their way, but as a consequence other heads have to roll, mine still stays attached (and then blame inflation or something). An upside down world, really.
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