Explaining the psychology of statusfrom @peter_reitano

Transcript

Are you rich enough to fly business class and not post about it? I think there's a point with almost every status symbol where the real flex becomes not needing anybody to know. The first time you fly business class, you probably photograph everything. The lounge, the champagne, the little toiletry bag, the seat turning into a bed, the passport casually sitting next to the champagne, maybe even the obligatory shot of your legs stretched out in front of the screen with a quote, long travel day ahead. And listen, I get it. You're excited. You're doing something that feels special, but you're also signaling. Status symbols have two forms of utility. There's the actual utility of the thing, and then there's the social utility of other people knowing you have the thing. A Rolex tells the time. A Porsche gets you somewhere. Business class gets you to Australia without arriving shaped like a question rank. But all of them also communicate something. Money, success, taste, access, whatever it is you want people to infer. And I think something interesting happens to you as you become more accustomed to status, the signaling value starts to decline. Your first Rolex somehow appears in every photo, your fifth Rolex is just the watch you put on that morning. Your first five star hotel gets a full room tier, Your first business class flight gets a full length documentary. By your twentieth, you're just annoyed the lounge is too busy. There's an old idea in sociology around conspicuous consumption, buying things partly because their consumption is visible to other people. And I think signaling is often strongest when you're entering a new status group. At first, the object is evidence of the life you want people to believe you have. Eventually, if that actually is your life, you stop needing the evidence. The thing becomes normal. But here's where it gets even more ridiculous. Status signaling doesn't actually disappear, it just gets more subtle. The giant logo disappears, the clothes get quieter, you don't tag the hotel, the watch becomes something only another watch nerd would recognize. You're still signaling you've just graduated to a more exclusive language of status. And obviously, this isn't absolute. Sometimes, you post tier hotel because it's beautiful. You post the car because you love cars. You post the watch because you're a watch nerd. Not every photo of an expensive thing is some desperate cry for validation, but I do think it's worth asking yourself, would I enjoy this as much if nobody knew I had it? Because maybe there's levels to say it is worst you want the thing, then you want people to know you have the thing, then you become so accustomed to tier thing that you don't need anyone to know anymore. And then presumably you worse insufferable about not letting anyone know, judging other people all the time sneering. You've somehow turned discretion into another status symbol. There is no escape from this game. But maybe that's the final test.