Human Nature, Signals, and Countersignals
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Highlights
- “The amount of education you need to get a job really has risen more than the amount of education you need to do a job. Bartender, cashier, cook, janitor, security guard, and waiter are now common jobs for college grads.”
- When the exceptional becomes commonplace, we get used to it. We habituate. If everyone around us became hotter, our subjective standards would rise in lockstep.
- Education and attractiveness are assessed in relative terms. We don’t evaluate on an objective scale.
- “The nouveau riche flaunt their wealth, but the old rich scorn such gauche displays. Minor officials prove their status with petty displays of authority, while the truly powerful show their strength through gestures of magnanimity. People of average education show off the studied regularity of their script, but the well educated often scribble illegibly. Mediocre students answer a teacher’s easy questions, but the best students are embarrassed to prove their knowledge of trivial points. Acquaintances show their good intentions by politely ignoring one’s flaws, while close friends show intimacy by teasingly highlighting them. People of moderate ability seek formal credentials to impress employers and society, but the talented often downplay their credentials even if they have bothered to obtain them. A person of average reputation defensively refutes accusations against this character, while a highly respected person finds it demeaning to dignify accusations with a response.”
- If you are doing well, you look bad when you brag about accomplishing something people expected you to do anyway. You can countersignal by withholding the news. Or have someone else disclose it for you.
- The first time an author reaches the bestseller list, it might be endearing to see them write a long social media post or thread expressing amazement and humility and gratitude. But the tenth time that author writes a bestseller, that same long post might be viewed as gauche.
- “Don’t be so humble—you’re not that great.”