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Comment by nazgulnarsil | Hacker News Reader

You don't get to say you aren't playing the signalling game. This is just interpreted as either a high status move (if you're already high status) or an admission of defeat if you are low status.

Doing nothing is always still a move. http://lesswrong.com/lw/bam/doing_nothing/

The general rule of thumb is try to dress 1 step above the average level in whatever setting, but no higher.

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I can't imagine anything more tedious than to spend my life thinking this way.

You can't approach every minute of life thinking about signaling theory, but it often helps understand the root mechanisms when they are otherwise murky.

Much like calculus, really.

There's something called "signaling theory" that has uncovered the "root mechanisms" of human relations and is comparable to calculus? That sounds like an absurd fantasy. I'll have to look it up.

I must not be communicating clearly this evening. What I meant was, (somewhat tongue-in-cheek) similarly, calculus grants us deeper understanding of otherwise confusing mathematical/physical/etc systems, but is far too tedious to apply to life every minute of every day.

As for 'root mechanisms', perhaps "mechanisms" wasn't precisely the right word, but it's up there with game theory. It is typically applied to animals observed in nature- yet that said, we too are animals, and it takes but a moment's thought to recognize it in action among humans.

Think of it as a heuristic tool to analyze and evaluate human behavior when you need it. And if you find it useful, try learning the basics of a few other frameworks and/or theories too: social capital (and social network analysis in general), labeling theory, diffusion of innovation, etc. In particular, technologists (and particularly entrepreneurs) that don't have some sort of exposure to sociotechnical research are missing out on a tremendous resource, imo.

Care to recommend one or two of the best sources?

"Impro: Improvisation and the theatre"

disregard the seeming lack of relevance.

That's quite funny. I love that book! (The first half, at least.) Keith Johnstone lives in my town and I've occasionally crossed paths with him at the local grocery. Anyway, sure, his chapter on status games is brilliant. But not as a guide to living. There are much better guides to living in there than that :)

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