The most useful part is in the comments. Quoting [1] for posterity: > Honestly, reading LessWrong I sometimes feel like I've wandered into a bozo version of "T

The most useful part is in the comments. Quoting [1] for posterity: > Honestly, reading LessWrong I sometimes feel like I've wandered into a bozo version of "The Invention of Lying", one set in the real world, in which the Ricky Gervais character and his chums are the only people to whom lying comes as a stunningly new idea. And they set out to get anything they want by lying, and for a while it works because no-one's expecting such idiocy, but eventually people get wise to them and they end up puzzled by why it isn't working, when it obviously must. > Status signals are a known thing in the real world. False status signals are a known thing. People who habitually make falsely inflated status signals and imagine they are being taken seriously are a known thing. They are called "buffoons", "blowhards", "charlatans", "impostors", "humbugs", "phoneys", "all hat and no knickers", and with a thesaurus I might double the list. Even in the enclosed world of geekdom they are a known thing: Dilbert's boss. That is not something to practice being. [1] https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/PMZHfLuQaeFDMQwMx/social-status-hacks-from-the-improv-wiki?commentId=JFeCmgi96cGcr3tFv https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/PMZHfLuQaeFDMQwMx/social-sta...