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For context, the exerpt is from the book The Screwtape Letters. A demon named Screwtape mentors an inexperienced demon in how to torment humans (and drag them d

For context, the exerpt is from the book The Screwtape Letters. A demon named Screwtape mentors an inexperienced demon in how to torment humans (and drag them down to Hell): https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Screwtape_Letters https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Screwtape_Letters The book is in the public domain.

neomormon 10y ago
Interesting aside: The book is dedicated to his best friend J.R.R. Tolkien. Tolkien convinced Lewis to become a Christian: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._R._R._Tolkien https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._R._R._Tolkien
- teddyh 10y ago
  A Catholic, even.
  - steverb 10y ago
    Tolkien was Catholic, Lewis was Church of England. Although I'm not sure what bearing that factoid has on the discussion.
jimmywanger 10y ago
Thanks for mentioning it! I couldn't figure out how to shoehorn the book description into my comment. Another point which I think is interesting from the original article is social status signaling. Every city does it slightly differently. For instance, in the Bay Area, you signal social status by talking about the hot startups you founded, the companies you worked for, and the open source projects you contribute to. In LA, you signal by the kind of car you drive, the famous people you know, and the kind of clothes you wear (I know, I'm generalizing). People who move from one area to the other have a harder time making friends, getting jobs, and getting dates cause the signals they send off are all wrong from what others are expecting.