Status matters; it’s a basic human desideratum, like food and sex (in addition to being instrumentally useful in various ways). There seems to be a notion among some around here that concern with status is itself inherently irrational or bad in some way. But this is as wrong as saying that concern with money or good-tasting food is inherently irrational or bad. Yes, we don’t want the pursuit of status to interfere with our truth-detecting abilities; but the same goes for the pursuit of food, money, or sex, and no one thinks it’s wrong for aspiring rationalists to pursue those things.
Status is an inherently zero-sum good, so while it is rational for any given individual to pursue it; we’d all be better off, cet par, if nobody pursued it. Everyone has a small incentive for other people not to pursue status, just as they have an incentive for them not to be violent or to smell funny; hence the existence of popular anti-status-seeking norms.
I don’t think I agree, at least in the present context. I think of status as being like money—or, in fact, the karma score on LW, since that is effectively what we’re talking about here anyway. It controls the granting of important privileges, such as what we might call “being listened to”—having folks read your words carefully, interpret them charitably, and perhaps even act on them or otherwise be influenced by them.
(To tie this to the larger context, this is why I started paying attention to SIAI: because Eliezer had won “status” in my mind.)
While status may appear zero-sum amongst those who are competing for influence in a community, for the community as a whole, status is postive sum when in it accurately reflects the value of people to the community.
I don’t think I agree, at least in the present context. I think of status as being like money—or, in fact, the karma score on LW, since that is effectively what we’re talking about here anyway. It controls the granting of important privileges, such as what we might call “being listened to”—having folks read your words carefully, interpret them charitably, and perhaps even act on them or otherwise be influenced by them.
(To tie this to the larger context, this is why I started paying attention to SIAI: because Eliezer had won “status” in my mind.)
Status is an inherently zero-sum good, so while it is rational for any given individual to pursue it; we’d all be better off, cet par, if nobody pursued it. Everyone has a small incentive for other people not to pursue status, just as they have an incentive for them not to be violent or to smell funny; hence the existence of popular anti-status-seeking norms.
I don’t think I agree, at least in the present context. I think of status as being like money—or, in fact, the karma score on LW, since that is effectively what we’re talking about here anyway. It controls the granting of important privileges, such as what we might call “being listened to”—having folks read your words carefully, interpret them charitably, and perhaps even act on them or otherwise be influenced by them.
(To tie this to the larger context, this is why I started paying attention to SIAI: because Eliezer had won “status” in my mind.)
I agree with this.
While status may appear zero-sum amongst those who are competing for influence in a community, for the community as a whole, status is postive sum when in it accurately reflects the value of people to the community.
I don’t think I agree, at least in the present context. I think of status as being like money—or, in fact, the karma score on LW, since that is effectively what we’re talking about here anyway. It controls the granting of important privileges, such as what we might call “being listened to”—having folks read your words carefully, interpret them charitably, and perhaps even act on them or otherwise be influenced by them.
(To tie this to the larger context, this is why I started paying attention to SIAI: because Eliezer had won “status” in my mind.)