I’d reframe this slightly. First of all, I want to think of signaling as less something you do on purpose as the primary goal of your action, and more as a side effect of an action you take for other reasons. If I eat frozen TV dinners every night, the reason I eat those dinners is because I’m hungry. But for anyone observing this diet of mine, it’s also a signal that I don’t know how to cook (or am too busy to cook). Nevertheless, I’m not eating these frozen TV dinners as some sort of statement about my schedule or my capabilities in the kitchen.
Similarly, let’s say the rich are, as Dalrymple claims, imitating the dysfunctions of the lower class. This might serve as a countersignal—we observe these behaviors of theirs and see that it sets them apart from and above us mere mortals. But they may not be engaging in these activities primarily for the purpose of setting themselves above us. If rationalist polyamory is a countersignal, that doesn’t mean that sending this countersignal is the primary motivation of rationalists being polyamorous. It’s a side effect.
And so an explanation for a shift away from exemplary behavior among the upper class might be that they simply feel less of a sense of social responsibility. They know how to manage a polyamorous lifestyle, post edgy comments on Twitter and get away with it, or commit tax fraud without going to jail, just like upper class people have always known how to do (please do take a moment to imagine Benjamin Franklin’s Twitter account). But something happened at some point that made the rich feel less of a sense of responsibility to eschew these activities, or at least hide them from the prying eyes of the less capable.
If I had to guess, it might have to do with the media and freedom of the press? We have a professional class dedicated to “exposing scandal,” by which I mean “putting the wild behaviors of the upper class on public display.” It has also constructed a stereotype of what upper class behavior is like that might be very different from actual upper class norms.
Basically, rich people are less able to hide bad behavior in the modern era. As such, those engaging in it have less incentive to hide it. If they feel they can’t hide it, they may even look for opportunities to flaunt it. This is more attention-grabbing, so it gets increasing press coverage. Any rich people who were trying to be exemplars see that their self-restraint is no longer being broadcast as an example to the poor. So any rich who would prefer to abandon such self-restraint for their own pleasure no longer have an altruistic motive to do otherwise. Only the rich who believe their selfish interest is attached to self-restraint will continue to demonstrate such behaviors (think Warren Buffett, whose legendary self-restraint is part of what makes him a trustworthy executive and is his identity as a public figure).
Take away people’s ability to control their public image, and their incentive to do so, and guess what? They’ll stop trying!
I guess there is a continuum between “I am doing this because I genuinely enjoy it, and as a side effect it also sets me apart from those who can’t afford it” and “I actually hate this; the only good thing is that it sets me apart from the losers”. Even different people from the same social class may be at different positions—for both of them it is a symbol of their social class, but one of them likes it, and the other hates it.
Take away people’s ability to control their public image, and their incentive to do so, and guess what? They’ll stop trying!
I’d reframe this slightly. First of all, I want to think of signaling as less something you do on purpose as the primary goal of your action, and more as a side effect of an action you take for other reasons. If I eat frozen TV dinners every night, the reason I eat those dinners is because I’m hungry. But for anyone observing this diet of mine, it’s also a signal that I don’t know how to cook (or am too busy to cook). Nevertheless, I’m not eating these frozen TV dinners as some sort of statement about my schedule or my capabilities in the kitchen.
Similarly, let’s say the rich are, as Dalrymple claims, imitating the dysfunctions of the lower class. This might serve as a countersignal—we observe these behaviors of theirs and see that it sets them apart from and above us mere mortals. But they may not be engaging in these activities primarily for the purpose of setting themselves above us. If rationalist polyamory is a countersignal, that doesn’t mean that sending this countersignal is the primary motivation of rationalists being polyamorous. It’s a side effect.
And so an explanation for a shift away from exemplary behavior among the upper class might be that they simply feel less of a sense of social responsibility. They know how to manage a polyamorous lifestyle, post edgy comments on Twitter and get away with it, or commit tax fraud without going to jail, just like upper class people have always known how to do (please do take a moment to imagine Benjamin Franklin’s Twitter account). But something happened at some point that made the rich feel less of a sense of responsibility to eschew these activities, or at least hide them from the prying eyes of the less capable.
If I had to guess, it might have to do with the media and freedom of the press? We have a professional class dedicated to “exposing scandal,” by which I mean “putting the wild behaviors of the upper class on public display.” It has also constructed a stereotype of what upper class behavior is like that might be very different from actual upper class norms.
Basically, rich people are less able to hide bad behavior in the modern era. As such, those engaging in it have less incentive to hide it. If they feel they can’t hide it, they may even look for opportunities to flaunt it. This is more attention-grabbing, so it gets increasing press coverage. Any rich people who were trying to be exemplars see that their self-restraint is no longer being broadcast as an example to the poor. So any rich who would prefer to abandon such self-restraint for their own pleasure no longer have an altruistic motive to do otherwise. Only the rich who believe their selfish interest is attached to self-restraint will continue to demonstrate such behaviors (think Warren Buffett, whose legendary self-restraint is part of what makes him a trustworthy executive and is his identity as a public figure).
Take away people’s ability to control their public image, and their incentive to do so, and guess what? They’ll stop trying!
I guess there is a continuum between “I am doing this because I genuinely enjoy it, and as a side effect it also sets me apart from those who can’t afford it” and “I actually hate this; the only good thing is that it sets me apart from the losers”. Even different people from the same social class may be at different positions—for both of them it is a symbol of their social class, but one of them likes it, and the other hates it.
Makes sense.