[https://every.to/no-small-plans/the-status-trap]

When our status is challenged, our body reacts like it’s in physical danger. If you don’t learn how to manage that reaction, you may find yourself in the status trap—endlessly chasing status as a way to try to feel safe and whole.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35417702

https://twitter.com/naval/status/1002103497725173760

Seek wealth, not money or status. Wealth is having assets that earn while you sleep. Money is how we transfer time and wealth. Status is your place in the social hierarchy.

https://twitter.com/naval/status/1002103627387813888

Ignore people playing status games. They gain status by attacking people playing wealth creation games.

From @naval’s Twitter thread “how to get rich (without getting lucky)”

https://twitter.com/naval/status/1002103360646823936

My note: wealth is options; options are freedom, and buying your time back. Only play status games if you’re playing for fun, but don’t confuse it with success and freedom.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35419120

when our status is challenged, our body reacts like it’s in physical danger

While it’s not 100% certain, the fact that there appears to be a biological adaptation that makes us seek status and avoid losing status strongly suggests that the author is underestimating the importance of status in human society.

For example: “we find that status is significantly associated with men’s reproductive success, consistent with an evolved basis for status pursuit.” (https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1606800113)

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35430512

That adaptation may not be appropriate for the modern environment.

When exposed to modern/ internet-scale communities, it could be that there are so many false-positive threats to one’s status that the advice to (generally) not worry too much about it is good advice.

Our innate desire for sweets comes to mind.