A concrete example in a situation where you have an all-or-nothing choice like in a card-game is job application: Either you get the job or you don’t get it. Investing enery and money in an expensive business suit and optimum outward impression is a win-more strategy because it only helps once you already have the face-to-face interview where your appearance will not much difference (except in a few professions) but at best win-more. Your enery would have been better invested into writing more or better applications and a thorough preparation.
I’m not sure if this generalizes to fashion being in general a win-more strategy.
I’m pretty sure it doesn’t. Most situations you encounter in everyday life are far more iterated than job interviews: you’ll only conduct a face-to-face interview once or twice for a given job, but you might go on a dozen dates with a potential partner before you enter into a serious relationship; you likely meet potential friends and contacts a few times a week; and you’ll meet with your coworkers almost every day for years. Even if optimizing your appearance adds little marginal advantage in any given situation, it adds up quickly, and I suspect that advantage can actually be fairly large in situations where there’s not much to go on except a first impression.
Actually, I’m not even sure it’s generally win-more in the context of technical job interviews. There your skills probably make the most difference, but it’s not uncommon for someone without much technical savvy to have veto power, making personal presentation something to satisfice if not to optimize: you can be the best engineer in the world, but that won’t matter if the hiring manager thinks you look like a bum. For non-technical jobs—especially anything managerial or customer- or public-facing, which are not at all uncommon—it can easily be a full-blown optimization objective.
Even if optimizing your appearance adds little marginal advantage in any given situation, it adds up quickly, and I suspect that advantage can actually be fairly large in situations where there’s not much to go on except a first impression.
I in general agree with this assessment. It does add up. But there might be an area where it doesn’t.
To give a concrete example: During school I avoided fashion, pop culture and socializing. I felt that it gained me nothing and take time away from my much more interesting subjects like math and (later) computer. Arrogantly I thought myself above this. Intentionally misunderstood jokes. Committed to be different. This made me an outsider during school (luckily without becoming subject to bullying). But it did allow me lots of time to study.
Only much later when my interests expanded to include evobiosociopsychology did I really grasp the effect. I believe that I have been a quick learner since. The only penalty that appears to be difficult to compensate is relations. I have only a small circle of acquaintances and I’m not sure I can (or want to) build it up. But I’m also not completely convinced that the business landscape requires this.
To end the example: Is it worthwile to focus ones skills on one area—an intellectual area that my promise to pay back with compound interest later—and to pick up other areas later (though possibly completely excluding some areas)? Or should one rather advance all areas at once (albeith possibly with different weight)? Or does it depend?
For me it was a most successful strategy so far—though it could have been just luck and chance.
Appearance is not fashion. You should come across as optimistic and capable. And if the job requires it you obviously must have proper clothing. But reading latest fashing magazines, buying an expensive stylish suit, haircut and manicure and whatnot (not including cases where this can be overdone) is a win-more card which I still think costs more than it gains.
I hope I exaggerated enough. And remember: This is a possibly contrived example for the OP.
I think you’re trying to draw a hard line where none exists. In general, there is no clear boundary between matching your appearance to the situation and mere fashion games; of course there are situations where costs outweigh potential gains (you probably don’t want to go into debt to buy an Armani suit), but it’s possible to overinvest in almost anything, and I don’t think there’s a case for generalizing that to the entire category of fashion.
Job Interviews can often involve assessing how much pay to offer someone. I’m not sure you can do the math on how much “fashion” gets you how much more money, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it compares favorably to a lot of salary negotiation tactics. Also: Many people go to many job interviews over the course of their lives. Spending money one time to optimize a suit or other outfit can be spread out over many opportunities to wear it.
I also think more generally this is a big fallacy among nerds, the notion of “Anyone who would dismiss me for how I dress is not someone I want to hang out with anyway”. You have to remember that you’re competing with everyone else a person may or may not interact with, and consider how many people you meet who you never have an in-depth conversation with. Everyone uses many criteria to judge whether to talk to people for the first time, or talk to them again or seek them out at parties or whatnot. “fashion” or more generally appearance and a sense of personal style is one of these criteria. If you look interesting or like a hoopy frood or this can make more people want to talk to you. If you dress like a goth, some people will really want to talk to you and some others will want to avoid you. Fashion isn’t just paying attention to what runway models wear, but to what sort of image and identity you yourself have. There’s not even anything actually wrong with going around all the time in cargo shorts and a shirt with a Carbon Dating joke or a My Little Pony on it. Just recognize that even your “default” outfit is signalling something to everyone you meet, and your social interactions will in a not necessarily visible way all be colored by it.
No doubt. There is significant impact of appearance. And I agree that it is kind of a nerd fallacy to assume (or insist) that inner values should qualify only or mostly. It took me a while to learn that.
But it is also a fallacy—and a potentially expensive one—to assume the opposite that you have to follow every fashion or trend (of your social peer group). Moderation and balance is the key here I think.
Yeah that’s one reason I don’t like the word fashion/fashionable: it combines trendiness with style in a way that can make you focus on the wrong side.
I consider fashion a real-life win-more ‘card’.
A concrete example in a situation where you have an all-or-nothing choice like in a card-game is job application: Either you get the job or you don’t get it. Investing enery and money in an expensive business suit and optimum outward impression is a win-more strategy because it only helps once you already have the face-to-face interview where your appearance will not much difference (except in a few professions) but at best win-more. Your enery would have been better invested into writing more or better applications and a thorough preparation.
I’m not sure if this generalizes to fashion being in general a win-more strategy.
I’m pretty sure it doesn’t. Most situations you encounter in everyday life are far more iterated than job interviews: you’ll only conduct a face-to-face interview once or twice for a given job, but you might go on a dozen dates with a potential partner before you enter into a serious relationship; you likely meet potential friends and contacts a few times a week; and you’ll meet with your coworkers almost every day for years. Even if optimizing your appearance adds little marginal advantage in any given situation, it adds up quickly, and I suspect that advantage can actually be fairly large in situations where there’s not much to go on except a first impression.
Actually, I’m not even sure it’s generally win-more in the context of technical job interviews. There your skills probably make the most difference, but it’s not uncommon for someone without much technical savvy to have veto power, making personal presentation something to satisfice if not to optimize: you can be the best engineer in the world, but that won’t matter if the hiring manager thinks you look like a bum. For non-technical jobs—especially anything managerial or customer- or public-facing, which are not at all uncommon—it can easily be a full-blown optimization objective.
I in general agree with this assessment. It does add up. But there might be an area where it doesn’t.
To give a concrete example: During school I avoided fashion, pop culture and socializing. I felt that it gained me nothing and take time away from my much more interesting subjects like math and (later) computer. Arrogantly I thought myself above this. Intentionally misunderstood jokes. Committed to be different. This made me an outsider during school (luckily without becoming subject to bullying). But it did allow me lots of time to study.
Only much later when my interests expanded to include evobiosociopsychology did I really grasp the effect. I believe that I have been a quick learner since. The only penalty that appears to be difficult to compensate is relations. I have only a small circle of acquaintances and I’m not sure I can (or want to) build it up. But I’m also not completely convinced that the business landscape requires this.
To end the example: Is it worthwile to focus ones skills on one area—an intellectual area that my promise to pay back with compound interest later—and to pick up other areas later (though possibly completely excluding some areas)? Or should one rather advance all areas at once (albeith possibly with different weight)? Or does it depend?
For me it was a most successful strategy so far—though it could have been just luck and chance.
I don’t think that even generalizes to job interviews. Your appearance makes substantial difference, though often not consciously.
Appearance is not fashion. You should come across as optimistic and capable. And if the job requires it you obviously must have proper clothing. But reading latest fashing magazines, buying an expensive stylish suit, haircut and manicure and whatnot (not including cases where this can be overdone) is a win-more card which I still think costs more than it gains.
I hope I exaggerated enough. And remember: This is a possibly contrived example for the OP.
I think you’re trying to draw a hard line where none exists. In general, there is no clear boundary between matching your appearance to the situation and mere fashion games; of course there are situations where costs outweigh potential gains (you probably don’t want to go into debt to buy an Armani suit), but it’s possible to overinvest in almost anything, and I don’t think there’s a case for generalizing that to the entire category of fashion.
Job Interviews can often involve assessing how much pay to offer someone. I’m not sure you can do the math on how much “fashion” gets you how much more money, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it compares favorably to a lot of salary negotiation tactics. Also: Many people go to many job interviews over the course of their lives. Spending money one time to optimize a suit or other outfit can be spread out over many opportunities to wear it.
I also think more generally this is a big fallacy among nerds, the notion of “Anyone who would dismiss me for how I dress is not someone I want to hang out with anyway”. You have to remember that you’re competing with everyone else a person may or may not interact with, and consider how many people you meet who you never have an in-depth conversation with. Everyone uses many criteria to judge whether to talk to people for the first time, or talk to them again or seek them out at parties or whatnot. “fashion” or more generally appearance and a sense of personal style is one of these criteria. If you look interesting or like a hoopy frood or this can make more people want to talk to you. If you dress like a goth, some people will really want to talk to you and some others will want to avoid you. Fashion isn’t just paying attention to what runway models wear, but to what sort of image and identity you yourself have. There’s not even anything actually wrong with going around all the time in cargo shorts and a shirt with a Carbon Dating joke or a My Little Pony on it. Just recognize that even your “default” outfit is signalling something to everyone you meet, and your social interactions will in a not necessarily visible way all be colored by it.
No doubt. There is significant impact of appearance. And I agree that it is kind of a nerd fallacy to assume (or insist) that inner values should qualify only or mostly. It took me a while to learn that.
But it is also a fallacy—and a potentially expensive one—to assume the opposite that you have to follow every fashion or trend (of your social peer group). Moderation and balance is the key here I think.
Yeah that’s one reason I don’t like the word fashion/fashionable: it combines trendiness with style in a way that can make you focus on the wrong side.
related: http://ctr.sagepub.com/content/5/3/1.short