Long Read: Status as a Service (StaaS)
Eugene Wei | 108 minutes
“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a person in possession of little fortune, must be in want of more social capital."
So wrote Jane Austen, or she would have, I think, if she were chronicling our current age (instead we have Taylor Lorenz, and thank goodness for that).
Let's begin with two principles:
1. People are status-seeking monkeys*
2. People seek out the most efficient path to maximizing social capital
Snippets
Step one to self-discipline is to de-link your personal failings from moral failings. You have to accept that you cave to indulgence and that this doesn’t necessarily make you a horrible person.
- Mark Manson, If Self-Discipline Feels Difficult, Then You’re Doing It Wrong
Being quiet and slowly building mastery and expertise doesn’t pay off much at first. So many creatives must make a calculation: Do I want the short term, could-go-viral-at-any-second thrill of being a vocal expert in my field?
- Sean Blanda, The Creative World’s Bullshit Industrial Complex