There are at least two possibilities: a) I’ve always been an elitist asshole but I used to rationalize it as shyness. b) I’ve always been shy and still am but now after overdosing on Robin Hanson and various meta-contrarian writers it flatters my self-image more to think of myself as having base and vain motives for everything.
There was a point at which I realized shyness was unattractive and started acting aloof to cover up shyness. It’s a lot easier than than being friendly and high status.
This sounds testable. Do you find it harder to interact with more awesome people, or less hard? If it’s shyness, I’d expect you to find it harder, because you’re more intimidated, whereas if it’s aloofness, I’d expect you to find it less hard, because you’d be more interested in them.
There are at least two possibilities: a) I’ve always been an elitist asshole but I used to rationalize it as shyness. b) I’ve always been shy and still am but now after overdosing on Robin Hanson and various meta-contrarian writers it flatters my self-image more to think of myself as having base and vain motives for everything.
There was a point at which I realized shyness was unattractive and started acting aloof to cover up shyness. It’s a lot easier than than being friendly and high status.
This sounds testable. Do you find it harder to interact with more awesome people, or less hard? If it’s shyness, I’d expect you to find it harder, because you’re more intimidated, whereas if it’s aloofness, I’d expect you to find it less hard, because you’d be more interested in them.