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Pursuing status will never bring true happiness

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Re: Pursuing status will never bring true happiness

#131

Post by throwaway22032 »

gnicholas wrote: post #37
fogzen wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Material wealth is status. Money is status. Assets that earn while you sleep is status. Money is arguably the ultimate status game.

I disagree; wealth can be displayed as status. Money can be spent in status-seeking ways. But money can also be earned so that one can care for sick family members (or a sick future self), or to put kids through college. Or money can be spent on enjoyable experiences that no one else will see. Money is not the ultimate status game, even though it is an important ingredient in most status-seeking activities.

Caring for sick family members is status. It's something which people of lesser status are not able to do.

Re: Pursuing status will never bring true happiness

#132

Post by DangerousPie »

shakow wrote: post #114
yieldcrv wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is this the 50s where you couldn't get any credit or open a brokerage account even with your good enough single salary if you weren’t white and male, heterosexual? Trying to spark introspection about how all of these things are interrelated, but clearly only to some of us.

Are you implying it is contradictory to wish for both the wealth redistribution levels of the 50's and the human tolerance of now?

Is that the wealth distribution among white males or the wealth distribution among the population as a whole?

Re: Pursuing status will never bring true happiness

#133

Post by roenxi »

tqi wrote: post #55

On the one hand, sure, status probably is a trap and won't bring "true happiness." And I think this is well meaning advice. But on the other hand, I think it's possible that an Ivy League educated founder/VC partner/executive coach might not be in the best position to see the whole picture. To paraphrase the Aviator[1], you don't care about status because you've always had it. I think that for many people who have ex…

I think the issue is that while the advice is literally true, most people aren't in life for "true happiness". Most people, if observed closely, are in it for the status.

The people who are in it for happiness tend to be ascetics.

Re: Pursuing status will never bring true happiness

#134

Post by tarsinge »

luckylion wrote: post #121
DesiLurker wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd argue they are probably in the best position to talk about the 'empty bowl' status is. I mean if you switch to the admin-view for a moment, status is basically the increasingly rare thing that others cant have by definition. that is statistically impossibly for commoners to have. and their advice of seeking contentment can/is always countered with 'sour grapes' style retort. We need more calming message from peop…

"Money won't buy you happiness", said the billionaire. But how does that calming message really help the guy who'll get evicted because he won't have enough money for rent? I don't think we need these messages. They're a mix of humble brag, virtue signalling and self-marketing for all I can tell, and don't hold any insights that you won't find on one of those One Inspirational Quote Per Day calendars.

This is not about not having basic needs poor, it's about being middle class and chasing riches, expensive cars, homes, clothes, thinking life is about this and it will bring you happiness. Rich people surely aren't qualified to know what it's like to be poor, but they sure are for what it's like being rich by definition. The message is don't expect happiness and meaning be solved by money. That's the point of reading e.g. Marcus Aurelius (arguably one if not the most powerful person of its time) and see what happiness and the meaning of life is when you have everything, so that we middle-class can profit from that wisdom and don't waste our life chasing false dreams.

Re: Pursuing status will never bring true happiness

#135

Post by tarsinge »

throwaway22032 wrote: post #128
DesiLurker wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd argue they are probably in the best position to talk about the 'empty bowl' status is. I mean if you switch to the admin-view for a moment, status is basically the increasingly rare thing that others cant have by definition. that is statistically impossibly for commoners to have. and their advice of seeking contentment can/is always countered with 'sour grapes' style retort. We need more calming message from peop…

As someone who has been both poor and relatively well off, the main thing is that you gain enormous stability and comfort from things like owning a home and having sufficient financial ability to choose what to do. For example - "I choose to take the kids to school and then do some woodworking today". The fancy cars, big houses, exotic vacations aren't that great. The lack of slavery is.

> The fancy cars, big houses, exotic vacations aren't that great. The lack of slavery is.

I think that's the point, the former is all about status, but the real goal is not to show off but be relatively free, you still need money for that but that's not the same thing.

Re: Pursuing status will never bring true happiness

#136

Post by jrochkind1 »

throwaway22032 wrote: post #128
DesiLurker wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd argue they are probably in the best position to talk about the 'empty bowl' status is. I mean if you switch to the admin-view for a moment, status is basically the increasingly rare thing that others cant have by definition. that is statistically impossibly for commoners to have. and their advice of seeking contentment can/is always countered with 'sour grapes' style retort. We need more calming message from peop…

As someone who has been both poor and relatively well off, the main thing is that you gain enormous stability and comfort from things like owning a home and having sufficient financial ability to choose what to do. For example - "I choose to take the kids to school and then do some woodworking today". The fancy cars, big houses, exotic vacations aren't that great. The lack of slavery is.

Might "status" be a different thing than "wealth"? They are not unrelated in practice in our society, but I think the OP is thinking they are different things (I think I agree), and is making an argument about status specifically.

Status is being liked, respected, included, looked up to, followed, listened to. Which is a different category than having enough money to do things you want to do. One might lead to the other (in either direction), but some people can definitely have a lot of one and little of the other (also in either direction) as well.

Now, listing those "status" category things -- of course a person might want/need some of those things some of the time, having none of those things any of the time would be challenging, for sure. I don't think the OP's claim necessarily denies that either.

Re: Pursuing status will never bring true happiness

#137

Post by Aeolun »

More status is not a guarantee of happiness in the same way that more money isn’t.

It just helps you not have to worry about a lot of things that other people do have to worry about (like making rent, or surviving tomorrow’s bombardment).

Your biggest worries will become things that other people can only dream of worrying about, but they won’t be any less terrible for you.

Re: Pursuing status will never bring true happiness

#138

Post by michaelt »

hoseja wrote: post #125
throwawaysleep wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Frank obtains power, not security.

What is the difference.

The world of House of Cards is one in which each politician is constantly surrounded by people - even among their allies - who want to stab them in the back to take their job or remove them as a threat. And they'll happily use any dirty tricks, betrayal or even murder to accomplish it.

Doesn't sound very secure to me.

Re: Pursuing status will never bring true happiness

#140

Post by cpcallen »

brazzy wrote: post #106
magic_hamster wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Status is a completely artificial construct that completely melts away the minute you run out of money. It's an unfair advantage, but it offers no security whatsoever.

Status is a social construct, and we are social animals. So it really, truly does matter. And money is not the only thing that can convey status.

Indeed. Money and status are certainly correlated, but you only need to look at e.g. the British class system, or the difference between "old money" and "new money" to understand that they are not the same thing.
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