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Choose your status game wisely

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Re: Choose your status game wisely

#101

Post by sk1pper »

epgui wrote: post #65
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…

I actually feel pressure to dress down in my role as a SWE: hoodies and jeans seem like the norm, and forget about wearing a suit (lol!) or even a dress shirt. I've found black/grey turtlenecks to be a nice middle ground, and apart from the occasional "one more thing" (Steve Jobs) or Elizabeth Holmes comment, those tend to work well.

Me too. If I wear a simple blue button down, there’s a 100% chance it gets commented on. And I work full time remote…

I feel like if I wore that to a software engineering interview I’d run the risk of being judged as just not really getting the culture.

Re: Choose your status game wisely

#102

Post by throw0101a »

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…

Thomas Aquinas several hundred years ago: "Article 1. Whether man's happiness consists in wealth?"

* https://www.newadvent.org/summa/2002.htm

He then goes on to consider honour, glory/fame, power, pleasure.

Re: Choose your status game wisely

#103

Post by dgb23 »

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…

> if you won a big lottery tomorrow, would you still keep doing what you do today? If the answer is no, then you've been playing the money game all along.

That's implying playing the money game is voluntary.

Re: Choose your status game wisely

#104

Post by throw0101a »

skmurphy wrote: post #56

this reminded me of the "This is Water" commencement speech given by David Foster Wallace to the 2005 graduating class at Kenyon College. Key graf: "In the day-to-day trenches of adult life, there is actually no such thing as atheism. There is no such thing as not worshiping. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship. And an outstanding reason for choosing some sort of God or spiritual-type thing…

(Saint) Thomas Aquinas several hundred years considered the main Earthly goods that many people hold up as the Highest Good as: wealth, honour, glory/fame, power, pleasure.

* https://www.newadvent.org/summa/2002.htm

See also Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics.

Re: Choose your status game wisely

#105

Post by [deleted] »

skmurphy wrote: post #95
neilv wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, this part of TFA sounded like it might almost be a reference to the DFW speech: > This is why you have to choose your status game wisely. Because whatever status game you choose in life ultimately determines what you optimize for. Choose money and you’ll end up working all the time. Choose beauty and you’ll always want to look better. Choose fame and you’ll constantly be seeking attention.

Nick Maggiulli vectors people to https://twitter.com/dollarsanddata to comment on his posts. Alex Hardy commented two days ago https://twitter.com/CantHardyWait/status/1508789463664709646 “There is no such thing as not worshiping. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship.” I did not see this when I left my comment here. But Maggiulli responded https://twitter.com/dollarsanddata/status/15088154804…

[deleted]

Re: Choose your status game wisely

#106

Post by Dracophoenix »

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…

Menswear as metrosexual hipster or as in MFA and /f/ lurker?

Re: Choose your status game wisely

#107

Post by anp »

gretch wrote: post #93
_v7gu wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>The "weightlifting status" or the "content creator status" mentioned in the article are just money status in disguise. Nice argument, care to back it up with your deadlift?

Arnold has a really good quote about this: "A well-built physique is a status symbol. It reflects you worked hard for it; no money can buy it. You cannot borrow it, you cannot inherit it, you cannot steal it. You cannot hold onto it without constant work. It shows discipline, it shows self-respect, it shows patience, work ethic, and passion. That is why I do what I do." Really makes you think. Not a whole lot of thin…

I love the quote, but I'll offer another perspective. I had a pretty significant physical transformation over the last few years. It's the result of work I did and I feel very proud of what I've built.

But! I did it after starting to work for a big tech company. The company covered weekly therapy where I ended up doing a lot of work on my relationship with food and physical activity, the company subsidized a personal trainer in company gyms, the company provided balanced meal options at the office, the company paid me enough to spend whatever I wanted on food at home as I figured out a healthier diet and to set up a home gym during a pandemic, and my position was flexible enough or me to schedule all of these things while still advancing in my career. All of this together made it easier to imagine a future for myself and to invest in it.

I think what I've done would have been possible without these (and other) privileges, but I do feel that when I show off my fitness I am displaying a partially economic status symbol given the opportunities it created in my particular case and the pace at which it's allowed me to go. Not sure how well this extrapolates (if at all) but it does seem like it's an advantage to have the resources to make space for fitness and to optimize within that.

Re: Choose your status game wisely

#108

Post by allenu »

neilv wrote: post #84
skmurphy wrote: post #56

this reminded me of the "This is Water" commencement speech given by David Foster Wallace to the 2005 graduating class at Kenyon College. Key graf: "In the day-to-day trenches of adult life, there is actually no such thing as atheism. There is no such thing as not worshiping. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship. And an outstanding reason for choosing some sort of God or spiritual-type thing…

Yeah, this part of TFA sounded like it might almost be a reference to the DFW speech: > This is why you have to choose your status game wisely. Because whatever status game you choose in life ultimately determines what you optimize for. Choose money and you’ll end up working all the time. Choose beauty and you’ll always want to look better. Choose fame and you’ll constantly be seeking attention.

The inverse to this is the old quote attributed to Joe Biden: “Don’t tell me what you value, show me your budget, and I’ll tell you what you value.”

If you want to see what someone values, look at where they spend their time, money, resources, etc.

Re: Choose your status game wisely

#109

Post by skmurphy »

XorNot wrote: post #98
skmurphy wrote: post #56

this reminded me of the "This is Water" commencement speech given by David Foster Wallace to the 2005 graduating class at Kenyon College. Key graf: "In the day-to-day trenches of adult life, there is actually no such thing as atheism. There is no such thing as not worshiping. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship. And an outstanding reason for choosing some sort of God or spiritual-type thing…

Ah yes, the long history of religious worship definitely having no negative consequences whatsoever to individuals, their communities and wider geopolitics. No one ever has been sacrificed or convinced they just sacrifice in the name of their god. Never .

Wallace also offers "an infrangible set of ethical principles" as an option. His point is to avoid feeding your ego. Which is the same point that Maggiulli is making.

Re: Choose your status game wisely

#110

Post by 0des »

fermentation wrote: post #90
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?

The trick is to develop enough of an ego for this event to never occur.

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