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You are interpreting behaviors in other people (hair a mess, sweat pants, lots of stuff) as a status signal. And it may be. But it's also possible that they are

by scott_s 11y ago

You are interpreting behaviors in other people (hair a mess, sweat pants, lots of stuff) as a status signal. And it may be. But it's also possible that they are not trying to signal a particular kind of status, and are just trying to cope with challenges in their life.

saint_fiasco 11y ago
I may be talking out of my ass here, but I think college educated people don't have lots of kids by accident. The challenge is purely self-inflicted, so it's natural to assume they get something out of it, and status is the most obvious motivation. Then again, they might be one of those weird mutants who actually like children.
- untog 11y ago
  If you dislike children, you're statistics that you're the weird mutant, not the other way around.
  - saint_fiasco 11y ago
    Yeah, the last part was bad sarcasm. I'm not an evolutionary psychologist, but I imagine the only thing stronger than a social animal's desire for status would have to be their desire for children.
- pavel_lishin 11y ago
  I think that the parents and college students dpcan was talking about are non-intersecting.
  - saint_fiasco 11y ago
    I interpreted it as a sequence. The concern for status "transfers over to parenting", perhaps in a similar way as the High School popularity contests are sometimes transferred (hopefully sublimated) to college. Most people have a set of life goals they accomplish in sequence, such as college -> marriage -> career -> children (Some people switch them around or omit some of them)
dpcan 11y ago
I am, yes. But it's quite transparent most of the time. It's the kid with bad breath, greasy hair, and foul odor in the corner of the computer lab with a stack of books next to him that I would believe is truly stressed and finishing a project. It's the kid who has pajamas on but still looks great, carries one book, a pen, and a coffee back and forth across the quad 6 times a day that I wonder about :)

by scott_s 11y ago

saint_fiasco 11y ago

I may be talking out of my ass here, but I think college educated people don't have lots of kids by accident. The challenge is purely self-inflicted, so it's natural to assume they get something out of it, and status is the most obvious motivation. Then again, they might be one of those weird mutants who actually like children.

untog 11y ago
If you dislike children, you're statistics that you're the weird mutant, not the other way around.
- saint_fiasco 11y ago
  Yeah, the last part was bad sarcasm. I'm not an evolutionary psychologist, but I imagine the only thing stronger than a social animal's desire for status would have to be their desire for children.
pavel_lishin 11y ago
I think that the parents and college students dpcan was talking about are non-intersecting.
- saint_fiasco 11y ago
  I interpreted it as a sequence. The concern for status "transfers over to parenting", perhaps in a similar way as the High School popularity contests are sometimes transferred (hopefully sublimated) to college. Most people have a set of life goals they accomplish in sequence, such as college -> marriage -> career -> children (Some people switch them around or omit some of them)

dpcan 11y ago

I am, yes. But it's quite transparent most of the time. It's the kid with bad breath, greasy hair, and foul odor in the corner of the computer lab with a stack of books next to him that I would believe is truly stressed and finishing a project. It's the kid who has pajamas on but still looks great, carries one book, a pen, and a coffee back and forth across the quad 6 times a day that I wonder about :)